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Falero 

TOWARDS A BETTER WORLD 

Reproduced by permission Copyright 1894 by Photographische Gesellschafl 


(See page 271) 










Blashfield. 


CHRISTMAS BELLS 






















THE MINISTRY ANI) 
MELODY OF ANGELS 


£ 


a 


A GIFT BOOK 


FOR 


EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR 


Listen! To cheer thy heart 
These angel voices come 
Whispering: Onward is thy path 
And upward is thy home! 


BY 


ALFRED FOWLER, D. D. 

THE SONG ORATOR 
WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY 

MARGARET E. SANGSTER AND 
CHANCELLOR BURWASH, S. T. D. 


Sl 


a 


MONARCH BOOK COMPANY 


CHICAGO 


PHILADELPHIA 





















LIBRARY nf CONGRESS 
Turn Cooles Received 

AUG 16 1904 

Cooyrleht Entry 

/ 2 » - / Oi o 2 1 

GLASS ft XXe. No. 

*7 o *r jf 1 

' COPY B ' 

irrjnagq uwy* I n H I h ' ■■ || e—w—NWW 


Entered according to Act of Congress 
in the year 1903 
By ALFRED FOWLER 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at 
Washington, D. C. 


All Rights Reserved. 







Hutbor's preface 


HTHE query fronts us: What do we know about the angels? Is 
* it possible for us to realize that unseen friends, soothing and 
nerving us, are ever by our side? Is it profitable for us, in the 
strenuous life that we are living, to spend precious moments in 
learning what the wise men of all ages have written and painted 
and sung of the “couriers of the Most High?” 

We answer at once in the affirmative. We may know them 
as very near and dear friends—helpers in every time of need— 
and it is a good thing to sing and speak of them, and study what 
the master minds of the world have said upon the subject. 

We have ascertained in our study that the world’s great¬ 
est writers and singers have been those who believed in angels, 
and that the finest of their contributions have been upon this 
theme. The matchless gems furnished herein are ample proof. 

The blessings to be derived from a careful study of so exalted 
and so important a subject to the intellectual, moral and spiritual 
life is beyond calculation. 

Macaulay in his eulogy of the Puritans, says that they “were 
men whose minds had derived a peculiar advantage from the 
daily contemplation of superior beings and eternal interests.” 
Clara Erskine Clement exclaims: “What study is more charming 
and restful than that of the angels as set forth in Holy Writ and 
the writings of the early Church ? 9 9 Mrs. Needham: ‘ ‘ Surely the 

-5- 



AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 


(i 

cultivation of our souls in fellowship with angels must lift the 
aspirations and purify the conduct. Let us weigh well the bene¬ 
fits to he derived from an unreserved and Scriptural faith in 
the strong and tender offices of these God-aj)pointed messengers 
of grace.’’ While still another, Dr. Patterson, writes: “Great 
instruction, comfort and consolation may be drawn from the 
angels. Next to Christ they are the best friends we have. Why 
should we not learn all we can about them? With good old 
Baxter we may all wonder why the Church pays so little heed 
to them.” 

There is, indeed, an amazing ignorance on the subject. Only 
the other day a great scholar remarked to me: “It is unfortunate 
that there is so little known about the angels. ’ ’ 

I have therefore found great pleasure in compiling this pres¬ 
ent volume, which contains practically all that the inspired 
writers, the rhetoricians, the poets, the song composers, and the 
master painters of the ages have contributed on this theme. 
Every phase of the question is discussed. 

How few people, if any, know that there are 365 passages 
in the Bible on the subject of angels. This thought gave to me the 
idea of a Year Book, the verses being placed in consecutive order 
from Genesis to Revelation. 

Five minutes each day for one year will enable you to read 
the book. Since angels are to be our immediate companions after 
death, why should we not spend a little time each day in cultivat¬ 
ing their acquaintance and friendship ? 

The book is an incentive to action as well as devotion. It 
inspires one to “do lovely things, not dream them all day long.” 

The writer takes this occasion to thank all authors from whose 
works extracts have been drawn for the strengthening of this 
beautiful theme, the existence and ministry of heavenly friends— 
the angels. 


AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 


7 


Permit me to say that the work as a whole is in commemora¬ 
tion of an angePs visit to me when a youth. The message was 
thisPreach! Preach! Preach! 

At the angePs bidding, a promising business career was at 
once abandoned, and a life work in the ministry begun. Since 
then the study of Angels has been a work of love, and the bring¬ 
ing of this book to completion,—what a joy it has been! 

And now: 


I send this little volume forth 
Preened as an angePs wing, 


East and West and South and North 
A constant song to sing. 




ITntrobuction 


BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER 


T HE trend of our times is toward materialism. Commercial 
aggrandizement is tlie goal of the great nations. East and 
West, the mighty world powers watch each other, resolute to 
check the least advance that one or another may make, lest it 
somehow invade the rights or snatch the privileges which have to 
do with the acquisition of wealth. Communities, families, and 
individuals catch the contagion of the period. To be rich is to 
he envied. To increase in goods and lands and stocks and mines 
is to reach the ultimate end of most human ambition. The spir¬ 
itual side of many a nature is hopelessly wrecked on the lee-shore 
of indifference and apathy, rather than of honest doubt, or open 
hostility, because people care so much for the mere material gains 
of existence, so little for the unseen and eternal realities. 

Yet, the fashion of this world passeth away. In the midst of 
business, of competition, of almost savage struggles to get on, 
death lays its chill arrest on men, and they are no more in the 
rush of this worrying age. They go to meet and face the world 
that has been around them from birth, of which they have thought 
little, about which they have had no concern. 

The spiritual, the supernatural, the intangible, is around us 
as we walk our earthly ways, just as it was around our predeces¬ 
sors on the globe when the earth was new. Angels still come 
hither on God’s errands. Angels hover over the cradle and stand 
sentinel-wise over the child whom God loves, and are with men 




INTRODUCTION 


and women in the strife with temptation, or the hour of great an¬ 
guish and deep distress. “Angels ever bright and fair” may 
form an unseen background for our happiest occasions. An angel 
stern and shadowy, yet with love in his heart, comes to emanci¬ 
pate the soul and lead it from the body’s prison, to the freedom 
of the city that lies foursquare on the banks of the river of life. 

It is well that we should sometimes pause amid earth’s bus¬ 
tling activities and hear the silver trumpet call from the heav¬ 
enly heights. It is well that we should listen, if haply in our 
homes we may hear some soft rustle of angelic wings, some gentle 
murmur of angelic tones. 

In the book which Mr. Fowler has compiled with great pains 
and loving ardor from sources ancient and modern, he has gath¬ 
ered up the records of poetry and symbolism and art in which 
allusion is reverentially made to the ministry of angels. One may 
read these pages and be wafted in spirit to the better land where 

< ‘ The gardens and the gallant walks 
Continually are green.” 

Faint yet thrilling echoes of the melody evermore surging around 
the throne are here. To study as Mr. Fowler has, the ministry of 
the angels, is to be impressed with the glory and beauty of the 
other world, and to feel in deeper earnestness that there lies about 
us “a world we do not see,” though “the sweet closing of an eye 
may bring us there to be. ’ ’ 

Glancing through this book, one is pleased to observe its cath¬ 
olicity. Gleaning from a wide range of literature, the aim has 
been to exclude nothing appropriate to the theme in hand, and to 
include whatever, from any author or volume attainable, has a 
bearing on the subject. The result is a Thesaurus of the angels, 
of what devout souls have felt, and devout pens have written 


INTRODUCTION 


about them; and the effect of the whole work is bracing, tonic, 
and exceedingly helpful. 

If there are those who approach the subject here illuminated 
with curiosity or patronage, regarding it as belonging to the 
realm of fairy lore or mythology, they will speedily become aware 
that their point of view is indefensible. The whole fabric of this 
and kindred books is founded on Scripture, on the revelations 
of the apostles and prophets, on the testimony of our blessed 
Lord HimSelf, to Whom in every crisis of this amazing life, an¬ 
gels came in swift and gentle ministry. The litanies of the angels 
are composed in heaven. What we know about angels we learn in 
the Word of God. Hence a book like this may lie on the shelf 
with our Bibles and be the companion of our silent hours when 
we enter into our closet and shut the door. 

I am happy in giving this volume my word of commendation 
as it starts on its way. 





JhAuvJ- <p. o * 3 


Untrobuctton 


BY CHANCELLOR BURWASH, S. T. D. 

| N ALL ages of the Christian Church the Angels have formed 
* a subject of interesting and poetic thought. In the Old Testa¬ 
ment they had their place as the messengers of Divine acts both 
of mercy and of judgment. The same faith passed into the New 
Testament and appears in the Gospels, the Acts and especially 
in the Book of Revelation. The faith thus presented has in it 
nothing of wild or erratic speculation. It is a simple and sober 
presentation of a link of mediation between God and human 
history. 

The reverent mystery which everywhere surrounds the lan¬ 
guage of Scripture when speaking of God is maintained here; 
and scarcely the outline of a material likeness is drawn. The 
presentation is one of relationship, spiritual and ethical in its 
character, always solemn and earnest as becomes a true religious 
faith, often full of holy gladness, sometimes full of awful terror, 
but always suggesting to our thoughts the highest ethical ideals 
and religious spirit of worship. 

It is not surprising that the Christian poet should find in this 
part of the Bible an exceedingly fertile field. Philosophy seeks 
for truth in exact definition and logical demonstration. Science 
seeks for causal forces and their laws of operation. But it is the 
glory of the poet to express the truth which is but dimly shadowed 
forth in Nature and in history, and where he cannot express the 
full truth itself, so half revealed yet half concealed, at least to 
give utterance to the deep emotion by which our nature attests its 
kinship with the Unseen Author of all truth. 

— 11 — 



INTRODUCTION. 


12 

To science and philosophy mystery is abhorrent. Not so to 
that intuitive feeling after mysterious truth which forms the 
inspiration of the past. It rejoices with trembling in the pres¬ 
ence of mystery and waits not for definition or demonstration 
to open its purblind eyes to all God-given light. Out of its 
emotion, by the help of a chastened and reverent imagination, 
it fashions an expression for the dimly apprehended truth, and 
in symbolic language expresses what as yet it cannot fully 
understand. Thus has it pictured heaven. Thus has it described 
the angels. Gathering up the scattered allusions of Scripture, it 
has placed before us a countless army of Divine messengers. 
It has linked them with birth and death, with the mysterious 
guidance of the pathway of human life, with our joys and our 
sorrows, our conflicts and our victories, till they seem to us a 
part of our family, the friendly partners of our daily life. 

Nor has this been the favorite field of the poet alone. The 
artist on the canvas and in marble has been equally prolific in 
the creation of forms of expression which have linked in with 
the idea of the angel almost every phase of moral and religious 
truth and all the highest ideals of moral and religious character. 

There has thus grown up through the Christian centuries not 
so much a doctrine as an ideal of the ministry of angels. It would 
be doubtless a great mistake to crystallize this into hard dogma. 
Even many, if not most, of the Scriptural expressions themselves 
were never designed as material for rigid dogmatic definition. 
But they all enable us to hold fast to a dimly revealed truth; and 
they keep alive a right feeling in the hearts of men. They build 
up within us the true, the beautiful and the good. 

It is thus no matter of surprise that the preacher as well as 
the poet and the artist has entered this same field, and gathering 
up the material which these have created for him has used it as a 
powerful means for his peculiar work, the demonstration of all 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


truth to religious faith. Nor do we wonder that what has thus 
been set forth before the Christian world by poet’s pen and 
artist’s brush and sculptor’s chisel and orator’s tongue has en¬ 
tered deeply into all our life, bringing a bright and beneficent, 
if mysterious, influence into all its darkness and pain and hard¬ 
ness, and shedding a new radiance around its brightness and joy. 

Mr. Fowler’s collection of the gems of Christian thought and 
art on this subject will, I am sure, find a sympathetic reception 
from all Christian souls, and will aid not a little to bring the 
blessedness of Christian faith to heighten the joys and soothe the 
sorrows of human life. 



Uo ms jflDotber 

roitfy tenberest affection 
tfyis Ctpgel r>o[ume 
is inscribed 


j 


I, 






ARCHANGEL GABRIEL EXPELLING ADAM AND EVE 

EROM PARADISE 


(See page 20) 


























ANGELS VISITING ABRAHAM 

(See page 30) 


































BOOK I 


% 

January 


\ 

i 


t 


i 



















































. 








































































\ 






























January 


ANGELS EVER BRIGHT AND FAIR. 


January l. 


And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,—Genesis 1:26. 



OME we now to the earthly Eden, and entering walk beneath 


the umbrageous branches of the tree of knowledge. The 
Creator’s task is done, and he has supplemented it by the last 
and loveliest of his handiwork, our fair, first mother, Eve. Ah, 
how fair was she! We are left by Holy Writ to imagine only 
how the angels must have watched and marvelled over the work 
of these strange six days. That they were not all jealous of the 
love with which the Son of God even then loved the new creature 
risen from the dust of the young earth, we know through their 
subsequent obedient service. But we do not see them in the 
garden until the last sad hour. 

The poets, however, take a greater license: Milton establishes 
Gabriel upon an alabaster rock near the eastern gate, a vigilant 
sentinel; to him, when ‘ 4 twilight grey hath in her sombre livery 
all things clad,” comes Uriel, with his cherubim, to keep the night 
watches. Within, with the eye of faith, we may see them, more 
numerous than the sands of the sea shore, crowding around that 
man and woman. The soft movement of their pinions ruffles 
the air of Eden; the trees bend and sway to it, while they look 
forth from among their luxuriant foliage; they sweep over the 
surface of the waters, and the streams ripple beneath the stirring 
of their wings, smiling back at them. The light from their be¬ 
nignant faces reflects itself in all nature, and adds to the bril¬ 
liancy of newly created sun and moon. Entranced, they follow 
every act, listen to every word, note every footstep. Some, as¬ 
suming an appearance to that of this marvelous pair, but still 


- 17 - 



18 


THE TREAD OF ANGEL FOOTSTEPS. 


retaining their ethereal character, alight with airy tread upon 
the sword and walk beside them, entrancing in their turn the 
objects of their solicitude by the charming of angelic voices re¬ 
counting the wonders of the heavenly paradise of which their own 
is hut a faint reflection. Alas! That the coming of the serpent 
should evade their loving vigilance! All too soon the idyllic 
days of innocence are ended. Driven from their home by the 
very spirits, led by the glorious Michael, who had so lately been 
their playmates, we see the man and woman pass through the 
gates of Paradise, while 

“The world was all before them where to choose.’’ 

And the flaming sword revoked above Ithuriel and his cheru¬ 
bim, keeping watch and ward over the desecrated portals. Down 
through the ages the world echoes with exquisite sensitiveness to 
the light tread of angel footsteps; all the celestial music which 
reaches the poor old earth in these, her days of decadence, is 
from the passing of the hosts; their pearly wings pulsing upon 
the air, quicken it with memories of the last delights of Eden; 
the glory shining from their radiant faces gives greater bril¬ 
liance to the sun, throws reflection ever upon the black and lower¬ 
ing, storm-mounted sky. — M. 

When God determined to make man he assembled together all 
the angels, that each one might contribute something towards the 
work; therefore he said to them: “Let us make man.” But 
certain angels refused, saying: “What is man that thou regardest 
him?” —Talmud. 

In one of the early councils of the church the form of angels 
was considered, and it was maintained by John of Tliessalonia 
that they were in shape like men, and should be thus represented. 
The decision is supported by the supposition that God spoke 
to the angels when he said: “Let us make man after our image.” 
And again by Daniel, when he describes his heavenly visitors as 
“like unto the simulitude of the sons of men.” 

—Clara-Erskine Clement. 


WHOM THE ANGELS WORSHIP. 


Man He made, and for liim built, 

Magnificent this world, and earth his seat. 

Him Lord pronounc ’d; and, oh! indignity! 

Subjected to his service, Angel-wings, 

And flaming ministers to watch and tend 

Their earthly charge. —Milton. 

You both remember well the day, 

When unto Eden’s new-made bowers, 

Alla convoked the bright array 
Of his supreme angelic powers, 

To witness the one wonder yet, 

Beyond man, angel, star, or sun, 

He must achieve, ere he could set 
His seal upon the world, as done— 

To see that last perfection rise, 

That crowning of creation’s birth, 

When, ’mid the worship and surprise 
Of circling angels, Woman’s eyes 
First opened upon heaven and earth; 

And from their lids a thrill was sent, 

That through each living spirit went, 

Like first light through the firmament! 

— Thomas Moore. 

When the Lord would fashion man, 

Spake He in the angel’s hearing, 

“Lo! our will is there should be 
On the earth a creature bearing 
Rule and royalty. To-day 

We will shape a man from clay.” 

Spake the angels, “Wilt thou make 
Man who must forget his Maker, 

Working evil, shedding blood, 

Of Thy precepts the forsaker? 

But thou knowest all, and we 
Celebrate Thy majesty.” 

* * * * 

Thus ’tis written how the Lord 
Fashioned Adam for His glory, 

Whom the angels worshiped, 

All save Iblis; and this story 
Teacheth wherefore Azrarl saith, 

“Come thou!” at man’s hour of death. 

—Edwin Arnold. 


HOPE FOR MAN. 


Januacs 2. 

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the East of the Garden of Eden Cherubim, 
and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the tree of life.—Genesis 3:24. 

T HE cherubim are ideal creatures, supreme in knowledge. 

These mysterious creatures were symbolic of redeemed and 
glorified humanity. They were emblematic of creature life in 
its most absolutely perfect form. They were appointed imme¬ 
diately after the fall to man’s original place in the garden, and 
to his office in connection with the tree of life. As such they 
were caused to dwell at the gate of Eden, to intimate that only 
when perfected and purified could fallen humanity return 
to Paradise. The other and more common connection in which 
the cherub appears is with the throne, or peculiar dwelling-place 
of God. In the holy of holies in the tabernacle he was called 
the God who dwelleth between and sitteth upon the cherubim, 
whose glory is above the cherubim. In Rev. 4:6 we read of the 
living creatures who were in the midst of the throne and around 
about it. What does this bespeak hut the wonderful fact brought 
out in the histoiy of redemption, that man’s nature is to he 
exalted to the dwelling-place of the Godhead. 

—Fairbank’s i ‘ Typology. ’ ’ 

In either hand the hastening angel caught 
Our lingering parents, and to the Eastern gate 
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast 
To the subjective plain, then disappeared. 

—Milton. 

For was I not, 

At that last sunset seen in Paradise, 

When all the westering clouds flashed out in throngs 
Of sudden angel-faces, face to face 
All hushed and solemn, as a thought of God 
Held them suspended. For I, who lived 
Beneath the wings of angels yesterday, 

Wander to-day beneath the roofless world! 


They sat at the cool of the day to rest,— 
Adam and Eve, and a nameless guest. 


-20- 


—Milton, 


ALL IS NOT LOST. 


21 


In early dawning had come the guest, 

And whether from East or whether from West, 

They knew not, nor asked, as he stood and bent 
At the entrance of the lowly tent: 

He had dipped his hand in the bowl of pod, 

He had thanked and praised and called it good; 

And now between his hosts he sat, 

And talked of matters so deep and wise 
That Eve looked up from her braiding mat 
With wonderment in her beautiful eyes. 

“All is not lost,” the stranger said, 

‘ ‘ Though the garden of God be forfeited; 

Still is there hope for the life of man, 

Still can be struggle and will and plan, 

Still can be strain toward the shining goal 
Which trump and becomes his sinewy soul; 

Still there is work to brace his thews, 

And love to sweeten the hard won way, 

And the power to give, and the right to choose, 

And—” he paused; and the rest he did not say. 

— Susan Coolidge. 


IN MID-AIR. 


January 3. 

And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daugh¬ 
ters were horn unto them, that the Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were 
fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.—Genesis 6:1-2. 

T HIS expression, “Sons of Elohim,” is found but seven times 
in the Old Testament, and in five out of seven occurrences 
the phrase “Sons of God” designates angelic intelligence. The 
“Sons of Elohim” can hardly be anything but a part of the 
heavenly host, who fell through love of the daughters of men, 
as was already understood by Josephus. 

— Scribner’s Bible Dictionary, Yol. 1. 

The eastern story of the angel Harut and Marut and the rab¬ 
binical fictions of the loves of Uzziel and Shamchayai, are the 
only sources to which I need refer for the origin of the notion on 
which this romance, “The Loves of Angels,” is founded. 

— Thomas Moore. 

What more need we say to show the close resemblance be¬ 
tween these graceful angels and that lovely reality, the brightest 
of the earth, “woman,” and certainly mankind could not have 
paid a handsomer tribute to truth than in thus investing the 
creatures of their imaginative admiration with the attributes 
and personal appearance of the noblest of mortal existences. 
Yet, after all, how could they have done otherwise? To con¬ 
found the angelic and the female form was a moral necessity, for 
how can we reason from what we know? There exists not within 
the experience of man anything as beautiful, as beneficent, so 
provident, as little stained with selfishness or self indulgence, as 
a good woman. With this close approximation it is not a matter 
for much surprise to find amongst the earliest records of the 
angelic hierarchy the story of their imputed loves for the daugh¬ 
ters of man. For like will after like! And however gross and 
contradictory may be the idea of an unembodied being thus com¬ 
mitting faux pas with material .flesh and blood, it is by no means 
clear that the earlier races drew that transient line between 
matter and spirit which more experienced metaphysicians are 

— 22 — 


WHEN THE WORLD WAS IN ITS PRIME. 


23 


wont to observe. It is by no means certain that they did frame 
to themselves their angels as divested of all materiality. It is 
impossible, indeed, to throw in ideas, any spiritual being into 
visible and tangible action, without investing it for the nonce 
with some sort of substantial surtout , and the earlier ideas of 
men concerning angels regarded their actions, and not their ab¬ 
stract nature. On the other hand, poets and sentimentalists 
have ever sought to idealize passion and to treat love as the most 
spiritualized and pure of man’s affections—in short, as of an 
angelic nature. The transition, therefore, is not difficult, how¬ 
ever illogical, from the attributes of the angel, to this union with 
the daughters of men. —U> 

0 woman! lovely woman! nature made thee 
To temper man; we had been brutes without you. 

Angels are painted fair, to look like you: 

There is in you all we believe in heaven; 

Amazing brightness, purity and truth, 

Eternal joy, and everlasting love. 

-—Otway. 


’Twas when the world was in its prime, 

When the fresh stars had just begun 
Their race of glory, and young Time 
Told his first birthday by the sun; 

When in the light of Nature’s dawn 
Rejoicing men and angels met 
On the high hill and sunny lawn,— 

Ere sorrow came or sin had drawn 

’Twixt man and heaven her curtain yet! 

When earth lay nearer to the skies 
Than in these days of crime and woe, 

And mortals saw without surprise 
In the mid-air angelic eyes 

Gazing upon this world below 
Alas! that Passion should profane 
Even then the morning of the earth! 

That, sadder still, the fatal stain 

Should fall on hearts of heavenly birth— 

And that from woman’s love should fall 
So dark a stain, most sad of all! 

— Thomas Moore, 11 Loves of the Angels.” 


THE VISIBLE WORLD. 


Jannarv? 4. 

And the Angel of the Lord found Hagar by the fountain of water :n the wilderness. 

—Genesis 16:7. 

I T WAS, I suppose, to the Alexandrian School and to the early 
church that I owe in particular what I definitely held about 
the angels. I received them not only as the ministers employed 
by the Creator in the Jewish and Christian dispensation, as we 
find on the face of Scripture, but as carrying on, as the Scrip¬ 
ture implies, the economy of the visible world. I considered 
them as the real causes of motion, life and light, and of those 
elementary principles of the physical universe which, when of¬ 
fered, in their developments to our senses, suggest to us the 
notion of cause and effect, and of what are called the laws of 
nature. This doctrine I have drawn out in my sermon Michael¬ 
mas Day, written in bed. I say the angels : Every breath of air, 
and ray of light and heat, every beautiful prospect, is, as it were, 
the skirts of their garments, the waving of the robes of those 
whose faces see God. —Cardinal Newman. 

Was it earthly sound 
Floating like fairy voices above, around, 

Or splendid symphonies of seraph Kings 
Striking the music from unearthly strings, 

Whose touch had startled her? 

—Edwin Arnold. 


How should ethereal natures comprehend 
A thing made up of spirit and of clay, 

Were we not task’d to nurse it and to tend 
Link’d one to one throughout its mortal day? 

More than the Seraph in his height of place, 

The angel-guardian knows and loves the ransomed race. 

— Cardinal Newman. 


— 24 — 


INHABITANTS OF CELESTIAL REGIONS. 

Sanuarg 5. 

And the Angel of the Lord said unto her: Hagar! Return to thy mistress and submit 
thyself under her hands.—Genesis 16:9. 

T HE historical Scriptures relate to us, without any error, the 
mysterious intervention of angels in the affairs of the world, 
in those of the church, and those of heaven. These creatures, ar¬ 
dent and pure, humble and sublime, whose existence the Bible 
alone has revealed to us—do they not differ from men as much as 
the heavens differ from the earth? Was anything like unto 
angels ever conceived by the minds of any race of men, their 
poets or their singers? No; their imaginations have not come 
near them. People at all times have taken pleasure in painting 
those invisible beings, inhabitants of celestial regions, adorned 
with all those superior qualities that charm the heart of man. 
But how low, puerile, and vulgar are all their conceptions! Study 
the angels of the Scriptures; not only is everything there grand, 
holy, and worthy of God; not only is their character at once ar¬ 
dent and sublime, compassionate and majestic, constantly brought 
before us there by their names, their attributes, their employ¬ 
ments, their habitations, their songs, their contemplation of the 
depths of redemption, and the joys of their love, but, what must 
strike us more than all is the perfect harmony of the whole, that 
all these features agree and are maintained in their justest pro¬ 
portions. In a word, this doctrine of angels, sustained from one 
end of Scripture to the other, bears the most striking testimony 
to its inspiration from God. — Robert Hall. 

In this dim world of clouding cares, 

We rarely know till ’wildered eyes 
See white wings lessening up the skies, 

The angels with us unawares. 

— Gerald Massey. 

0 Toiler in Life’s garden, and has the day been long? 

Art listening in the twilight to hear the angel’s song? 

Art fearful of the shadows that hide the Shining Way? 

Nay! He will not forsake thee, who bids His angels say: 

Lullaby, lullaby, sleep and do not fear,— 

Be it morn or eventide, God watcheth near. 


-25- 


—Gerald Lane. 


BLESSED ANGEL-TROOP. 


January <5 


And the Angel of the Lord said unto Hagar: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly. 

—Genesis 16:10. 


S TO the employments of good angels: They stand in the 



presence of God, and worship him; they rejoice in God’s 
works; they execute God’s will, by working in nature, by guiding 
the affairs of nations; by assisting and protecting individual be¬ 
lievers; by punishing God’s enemies. Milton tells us that 
‘ ‘ millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth unseen, both when 
we wake and when we sleep. ’ ’ Whether this be true or not, it is 
a question of interest, why such angelic beings as have to do 
with human affairs are not at present seen by men. Paul’s ad¬ 
monition against the “worshipping of angels” seems to suggest 
a reason. There would be danger of idolatry if we came into 
close and constant contact with angels. —Strong. 

If celestial spirits attend us and watch us, how carefully we 
ought to live! —Swedenborg. 


Blest were we, 


When every earthly prospect is shut in, 

And all our mortal helpers disappear, 

If with faith’s eye undimmed and opened wide, 
We might behold the blessed angel-troop, 
Which God, our Goc|, has promised shall encamp 
Round those who fear His name. 


—Lucy Larcom. 


26- 


SUPERIOR TO MAN. 


January 7. 

And the Angel of the Lord said unto Hagar: Behold, thou art with child . . . the Lord 
hath heard thine affliction.—Genesis 16:11. 

W E HAVE no knowledge of angels, except so far as is re¬ 
vealed to ns in the word of God. Angels are superior 
to man; are of different ranks and orders; are very numerous; 
are wholly spiritual, not material, though capable of assuming 
material forms and appearances. They have great power, and 
can work wonders, hut their power is derived and dependent. 
They cannot create or work miracles, except as specially empow¬ 
ered. They cannot act without means. They cannot search the 
hearts of men; their interventions with the affairs of men are 
only such as God permits or commands. They are limited as to 
place; they are somewhere, not everywhere; hut can move from 
place to place with great rapidity. They are originally holy, but 
were subjected to a period of probation, in which some kept their 
first estate and others did not. They are employed in the wor¬ 
ship of God, and in obedience to God’s commands they come 
among men, and specially minister to the heirs of salvation. 

—Miner Raymond, D. D. 

But in these days I know my angels well; 

They brush my garments on the common way, 

They take my hand, and very softly tell 
Some bit of comfort in the waning day. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 

An angel-reaper, with a two-edged sword 
So keen and bright, 

Stood pensive in a garden of the Lord 
But yesternight. 

The sword was drawn, yet in the angel’s face 
A radiant smile 

Played sweetly, though half veiled by just a trace 
Of sadness, while 

Fondly she gazed o’er bud and blossom near, 

Then far and wide, 

As if she sought a bloom more sweet, more dear, 

Than all beside. 

-27- 


28 


BEARING TREASURES TO THE KING. 


Two rosebuds grew upon one parent stem, 

The angel stood 

And lingered lovingly a while to gaze on them — 
They seemed so good. 

Both spotless white, and pure as morning dew, 
But one of aught 

Of greater sweetness. This the angel knew 
Was what she sought. 

A lovely blossom, fairer than the rest 
In earth’s rich store, 

And meet to lay upon the Savior’s breast 
Forevermore. 

Then swiftly, tenderly, with snow-white wings, 
Through heaven’s blue dome, 

She bore her treasure to the King of Kings 
To home—sweet home. 


—Arthur Green. 


HOW ANGELS APPEAR TO MAN. 


January 8. 

And she called the name of the angel that spake with her: Thou God seest me. 

—Genesis 16:13. 

A NGELICO could paint angels as no other man lias been able 
to paint them, because he was one of those few men who on 
earth had lived in heaven. He paints them almost shadowless, in 
robes of the purest, tenderest and most vernal colorings, their 
heads surrounded by golden nimbi, enriched with flower-like 
touches, and their radiant wings enameled with all the colors of 
the rainbow. He conceives them, as Dante conceives them, as 
emanations of living light. Often in painting them he must have 
thought of Dante’s lines in the Purgatorio:— 

“Coming forth, descending from on high, 

I saw two angels, each with sword of fire, 

Truncated flames, of forms that points deny. 

Verdant as new-born leaflets their attire 
Was seen, while they with green wings onward drove, 
Beaten and blown in many a breezy spire.’ 7 

Their faces, soft, and ethereally beautiful, are delicate with rose 
and gold, as of— 

“Some bright creatures of the element 
Who in the colors of the rainbow live 
And play in the plighted clouds.” 

—Farrar. 

Within those holy places 

Where the angels veil their faces 

In awe and adoration in the presence of the King. 

—Anonymous. 


-29- 


WAIT ON OUR STEPS. 


January 9. 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three angels stood by him. 

—Genesis 18:2. 

A NGELS are sent to be man’s attendants. They come to min¬ 
ister to him here and to conduct him home to glory! Kings 
and princes are surrounded by armed men, or by sages called to 
be their counselors; but the most humble saint may be encom¬ 
passed by a retinue of beings of far greater power and more 
elevated rank. The angels of light and glory feel a deep interest 
in the salvation of men. They come to attend the redeemed; 
they wait on their steps; they sustain them in trial; they accom¬ 
pany them when departing to heaven. It is a higher honor to 
be attended by one of those pure intelligences than by the most 
elevated monarch that ever swayed a sceptre or wore a crown; 
and the obscurest Christian shall soon be himself conducted by 
angels to a throne in heaven, compared with which the most 
splendid seat of royalty on earth loses its lustre and fades away. 

—Rev. Albert Barnes. 

Of old with good will from the skies— 

God’s message to them given— 

The angels^ came, a glad surprise, 

And went again to heaven. 

—George McDonald. 

May loving angels guard and keep thee 
Pure as thou art now. 

—Anonymous. 


In the first Age, the early prime 
And dawn of all historic time 
The Father reigned; and face to face 
He spake with the primeval race; 

Bright angels, on His errands bent, 

Sat with the patriarch in his tent. 

—Longfellow. 

The lowly spirit God hath consecrated 
As His abiding rest; 

And angels by some patriarch’s tent have waited, 

When kings had no such guest. 

— 30 — ~ BUrnS ' f 


GUIDANCE AND GUARDIANSHIP. 

January 10. 

And the angel said: So do as thou hast said.—Genesis 18:5. 

T HE tendency to deny angelic existence or angelic visitation is 
precisely the tendency to deny the existence of God. It is not 
given to man to see heavenly angels upon earth as in the olden 
time. But this is no argument that they do not exist, and exert 
a powerful influence, though unseen. Does He not exist? Heaven 
and earth were once together in the old Jewish dispensation. 
Are they further apart under the Christian dispensation? Have 
angels ceased ascending and descending the ladder reaching from 
this world to the skies ? When did they cease and why ? Where 
is the ground for such belief in the holy Scriptures? Where in 
the teachings of Reason? Their work, it is true, has ended in 
making audibly known the revealed will of God. But who has 
authority to assert that their mission as ministers of peace and 
mercy and helpfulness and suggestion and guidance and guard¬ 
ianship has ended ? The Old Testament dispensation was one of 
types and shadows of literal and material things. The New 
Testament is a spiritual one. Not now in material forms, but 
in a spiritual manner, do these celestial visitants communicate 
with man. But that communication is as real now as ever before. 

—Bishop Fallows. 

A guardian angel o’er his life presiding, 

Doubling his pleasures and his cares dividing. 

—Rogers. 

The shepherds had an angel, 

The wise men had a star, 

But what have I, a little child, 

To guide me home from far, 

Where glad stars sing together 
And singing angels are? 

Christ watches me, His little lamb, 

Cares for me day and night, 

That I may be His own in heaven, 

Where angels clad in white 
Shall sing their glory, glory, 

For my sake in the height. 

—Christina G. Rossetti. 


-31 


AN ANGEL’S LAUGH. 


January 11. 


And the Angel of the Lord said unto Abraham: Wherefore did Sara laugh? Is any¬ 
thing too hard for the Lord?—Genesis 18:13. 

B UT the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. 

—Holmes. 


We never read in Scripture of an angel’s laughing. This 
precious gift is bestowed only on the human family. A super¬ 
stition of great beauty prevails in Ireland—that when a child 
smiles in its sleep it is talking to angels. —Alfred Fowler. 


Angels’ visits, considering how wide and deep-noted, as 
well as Biblical, the belief in angels has been, it is singular how 
seldom it comes up to the surface. Is It that in these days of 
illumination we are ashamed of it, that it sounds like a fable 
which well-bred minds ought to reject, that it is like confessing 
to witches and ghosts! As our telescopes sweep the skies with a 
more searching scrutiny, are we staggered that they have not 
discovered a feather from an angel’s wing! Is there a conflict 
in our minds between the traditional faith we have accepted and 
the restless, advancing and polished scepticism of our time, and 
that we are half inclined to think the sceptics are right! When 
a faith is so rickety, a little quizzing, a little assumption of su¬ 
perior culture, will knock it under. And as no one has seen an 
angel, and as the chubby heads and well draped and solid winged 
figures that we are taught are angels are often ridiculous, and 
as the world seems to get on without spiritual intervention, it is 
as well, perhaps, to repress all enthusiasm about angelic dogmas, 
and spiritualize and allegorize a little, until one gets the Bible 
to say that it never meant to say there were angels. 

There may be a feeble protest that there are more things in 
heaven and earth than we have seen or ever can see, and that 
disclaiming spiritual intervention and agency over and above 
natural, is the same thing as disclaiming a personal relation be¬ 
tween God and his creatures. But no one likes to be pulled up 
by principals when he only wants a single opinion. Or is it that 
our notions are too vague and crude to bear expression, like 
Washington Irving’s Irishman, who shot an owl, and, being told 

-32- 



JACOB’S DREAM 

(See page 57) 





















CRADLE SONG 

(See page 294) 


Lauenstein 



ANGEL RESCUING LOT 


Rubens 


(See page 40) 
















ANGELS ARE WHISPERING TO THEE. 


33 


by a friend it was a cherubim, died of fright? Have we thought 
so little about them that they mix themselves up crudely with 
will-o’-the-wisps, meteors, spectres, hobgoblins and other night 
fears ? If a paper on angels were added to the competitive exam¬ 
inations, one could conceive the blank result; or if any ordinary 
congregation were examined in the last verses of the hundred and 
third psalm, or the third and fourth strophes of the Te Deum, 
how many ordinary men and women could answer ? Does Jones 
think there are angels ministering to him? Has Smith felt that 
they are more than a vague spot of glory with the Apocalypse ? 
No doubt, both of them have said more than once that “ fools 
rush in where angels fear to tread ’ ’; they are keen about the dis¬ 
cussion on Campbell’s line, “Like angel-visits, few and far be¬ 
tween,” and they know of people that they call “good angels.” 
But these phrases, like many more, have acquired a mere con¬ 
ventional force, and are passed from hand to hand as fool’s 
counters, not as wise mein’s money. —W. Fleming Stevenson. 

So from the heavenly throne 

Good angels sent to comfort them that mourn 

Are never seen to smile till they return 

And hear their Lord’s “Well done!” —E. Horton. 

Her prayer while she breathed, 

The baby still slumbered, 

And smiled in her face as she bended her knee: 

11 Oh, blest be that warning, 

My child, thy sleep adorning, 

For I know that the angels are whisp ’ring to thee. 

“And while they are keeping 
Bright watch o ’er thy sleeping, 

Oh, pray to them softly, my baby, with me; 

And say thou would’st rather 
They’d watch o’er thy father, 

For I know that the angels are whisp’ring to thee.” 

The dawn of the morning 
Saw Dermat returning, 

And the wife wept for joy, her babe’s father to see; 

And closely caressing 
Her child with a blessing, 

Said: “I knew that the angels were whisp’ring to thee.” 

—Samuel Lover. 


COMFORT IN OUR AFFLICTION. 


January 12. 


And the angels rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom.—Genesis 18:16. 


BLESSED angels! What variety is here of your assist- 



ance! One while ye lead us in our way, as ye did Israel; 
another while ye instruct us as ye did Daniel; one while ye fight 
for us, as ye did for Joshua; another while ye purvey for us, as 
for Elijah; one while ye fit us to one holy vocation, as ye did to 
Israel; another while ye dispose of the opportunities of our call¬ 
ing for good, as ye did of Philip’s to the Eunuch; one while ye 
foretell our- dangers, as to Lot, to Joseph and Mary; another 
while ve comfort our affliction, as to Hagar; one while ye oppose 
evil projects against us, as to Balaam; another while ye will be 
striven with for a blessing, as with Jacob; one while ye resist our 
offensive courses, as to Moses (Exodus 6); another while ye en¬ 
courage us in our devotions, as ye did Paul, and Silas, and Cor¬ 
nelius ; one while ye deliver from durance, as Peter; another while 
ye preserve us from danger and death, as the Three Children; 
one while ye are ready to restrain our presumption, as the cherub 
before the gate of Paradise; another while to excite our courage, 
as to Elijah and Theodosius; one while to refresh and cheer us 
in our sufferings, as to the apostles; another while to prevent 
our sufferings, as to Jacob in the pursuit of Leban and Esau, to 
the sages in.the pursuit of Herod; one while ye cure our bodies, 
as at the pool of Bethesda; another while ye carry up our souls 
to glory, as ye did to Lazarus. It were endless to instance all 
the gracious offices which ye perform. —Bishop Hall. 


Man hath two attendant angels 
Ever watching at his side, 

With him whereso'er he wanders, 
Whereso’er his feet abide. 

One to warn him when he darkleth 
And rebuke him if he stray, 

One to leave him to his nature 
And so let him go his way. 


-34- 


—Prince. 


THE MYSTERIES OF REDEMPTION. 


January 13. 


And. the angels turned their faces, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet 
before the Lord.—Genesis 18:22. 

T HE employments of the good angels are partly contemplative 
and partly active. They are represented as surrounding 
the throne of God, and singing his praises (Ps. 103:20); and also 
as ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14). On all important occasions 
in the history of redemption angels appear on the scene; at the 
giving of the Mosaic law, at the birth of Christ, at his second 
coming, and at the gathering of the elect. They share the joy of 
the Redeemer over repentant sinners; they are present in the 
assemblies of Christians; they convey the souls of the pious de¬ 
parted to their rest. Though not interested in them as man is, 
they make the mysteries of redemption their earnest study (Pet. 
1:12). That a guardian angel is assigned to each believer is a 
pious opinion, which may deserve some support from our Lord’s 
words (Matt. 18:10); but whatever hints Scripture may furnish 
on this subject, it gives no prominence thereto, nor does it ever 
encourage us to look to angels for guidance or help in the emer¬ 
gencies of life. Why should it, when the Christian has a right 
to rely on His overruling providence and ever-present succor, 
whom the angels themselves worship as their Creator! 

—F. A. Lilton. 

Ye have angels’ faces, but heaven knows your hearts. 

—Shakespeare. 


Earth has a joy unknown to heaven— 

The new-born peace of sin forgiven! 

Tears of such pure and deep delight, 

Ye angels! never dimmed your sight. 

—Augustus L. Hillhouse. 


— 35 ^ 


THE COURT OF HEAVEN. 


January 14. 

And the angel went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham. 

—Genesis 18:32. 

T HERE is only one angel of every species, thus showing forth 
the magnificence of the designs and the perfection of this 
wonderful work of God. —St. Thomas. 

If each angel constitutes a separate and distinct species, then 
numerous, separate and distinct species were condemned to hell, 
and lost absolutely and forever to heaven, which can hardly be 
thought of. —St. Augustine. 

The angels have been considered by divines to have each of 
them a species to himself, and we may fancy each of them so 
absolutely sui similis as to be like nothing else. 

—Cardinal Newman. 

Scripture teaches us a great deal about the angels, their wor¬ 
ship of God, their ministries toward other creatures, their indi¬ 
vidual characters. Some theologians have thought that each 
angel is a species of himself, which would, indeed, open out quite 
an overwhelming view of the magnificence of God. Others, with 
more show of reason, make twenty-seven species, three in each 
choir, as there are three choirs in each hierarchy. This gives to 
us amazing ideas of the court of heaven. —Faber. 

From the choir where the seraph minstrels glow. 

—Anonymous. 

What though my winged hours of bliss have been 
Like angels’ visits, few and far between? 

—Thomas Campbell. 

Its visits 

Like those of angels, short and far between. 

—Blair. 

How fading are the joys we dote upon! 

Like apparitions seen and gone; 

But those which soonest take their flight 
Are the most exquisite and strong; 

Like angel’s visits, short and bright, 

Mortality’s too weak to bear them long. 

—John Norris. 

Angels, as ’tis but seldom they appear, 

So neither do they make long stay; 

They do but visit and away. 

-36- 


—John Norris. 


THE OTHER WORLD OF ANGELS. 


Januarg 15. 

And there came two angels to Sodom at even.—Genesis 19:1. 

N OW, for that immaterial world, methinks we need not wan¬ 
der so far as beyond the First Movable; for even in this 
material fabric the spirits walk as freely exempt from the affec¬ 
tion of time, place and motion as beyond the extremest circum¬ 
ference. Do but extract from the corpulency of bodies, or re¬ 
solve things beyond their first matter, and you discover the 
habitation of angels, which, if I call the ubiquitary and omni¬ 
present essence of God, I hope I shall not offend divinity; for 
before the creation of the world God was really all things. For 
the angels he created no new world, or determinate mansion, and 
therefore they are everywhere where is his essence and do not live 
at a distance even in himself. That God made all things for man is 
in some sense true, yet not so far as to subordinate the creation 
of those purer creatures unto ours, though as ministering spirits 
they do, and are willing to fulfill the will of God in these lower 
and sublunary affairs of man. God made all things for himself, 
and it is impossible he should make angels for any other end than 
his own glory. It is all he can receive, and all that is without 
himself; for honor, being an external adjunct, and in the honorer 
rather than in the person honored, it was necessary to make a 
creature from whom he might receive this homage, and that is in 
the other world of angels, in this man. 

—Sir Thomas Browne. 

Two angels came through the gate of heaven, 

Stayed them both by the gate of heaven, 

Rested a little on folded wings, 

Spake a little of holy things. 

Now they came to a cottage door, 

Stayed them both at a cottage door,— 

This one bright as the sunset's glow, 

That one white as the falling snow. 

—Laura E. Richards. 


-37- 


WHERE ANGELS LODGE. 

3annar£ 16. 

And Lot said to the angels: Behold now, my Lords, turn ye in, I pray you, into your 
servant’s house and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and 
go on your ways.—Genesis 19:2. 

L OT’S guests were his best friends; he had entertained angels, 
and they now deliver him; he would have preserved them, 
and they did preserve him. Where should the angels lodge but 
with Lot? The houses of holy men are full of those heavenly 
spirits, though they be not seen; their protection is comfortable, 
though not visible. —Adams. 

“The angels of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
fear him, and delivereth them.” The passage is very rich in 
meaning; for the Hebrew verb signifies “to pitch a camp,” and 
the Greek verb, occurring in the Septnogent as a translation of 
this, is one used by the Greek writers in general to express the 
disposition of an army. From this it is evident that not only 
the angel of the Lord, but his accompanying hosts are near to 
the dwelling of the righteous; beheld only by their Maker and 
those who are with them, it is true, but invested with a merciful 
power to ward off our spiritual foes, as they did Lot and his 
family out of Sodom, that he might escape the impending ruin. 
In the book of Genesis there is no notice of angelic appearances 
till after the call of Abraham. Then, as the book is the history 
of the “Chosen Family,” so the angels mingle with and watch 
over its family life, entertained by Abraham and by Lot, guiding 
Abraham’s servant to Padan-Aram, seen by the fugitive Jacob 
at Bethel, and welcoming his return at Manhanaim. Their min¬ 
istry hallows domestic life, in its trials and its blessings alike, 
and is closer, more familiar and less awful than in after times. 

—Rawson. 


Bright heralds of the Eternal Hill, 

Abroad His errands ye fulfill; 

Or, throned in floods of beaming day, 

Symphonious in His presence play. 

—Augustus L. Hillhouse. 


-38- 


1 


SERVICE RENDERED BY ANGELS. 

January 17. 

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying: Arise! take thy 
wife, and thy two daughters which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of 
the City.—Genesis 19:15. 

I N REFERENCE to the services rendered by angels to man¬ 
kind, we may safely adopt the idea of their being servants of 
this Great King, sent from before his throne to this lower world 
to execute his commissions—so far, at least, Scripture warrants 
us. In such services some of them, probably, are always en¬ 
gaged, though invisible to us. We may receive from them much 
good without being aware of angelic interference. If angels are 
thus engaged invisibly in the care or service of mankind, then 
we can find no difficulty in admitting that they have had orders, 
on particular occasions, to make themselves known, as celestial 
intelligences; they may often have assumed the human appear¬ 
ance, for aught we can tell; but if they assumed it completely, 
how can we generally know it? How can we recognize them ? This 
is evidently beyond human abilities, unless it be part of their 
commission to leave indications of their superior nature. 

—Edward Robinson, D. D. 

Let us hold fast to the other and kindred truth that God 
employs His angels as “ministering spirits” to the humblest and 
lowliest of His children. —Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. 

Guided by her, along the mountain road, 

Far through the twilight of the morn, 

With hurrying footsteps from the accursed abode 
He sees the holy household borne; 

Angels, or more, on either hand are nigh, 

To speed them o’er the tempting plain, 

Lingering in heart, and with frail, sidelong eye 
Seeking how near they may unharmed remain-. 

—John Keble. 


-39- 


HAND IN HAND WITH ANGELS. 


3anuarg 18. 

And while Lot lingered, the angels laid hold upon Lot’s hand, and upon the hand of his 
wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him; and 
they brought him forth and set him without the city.—Genesis 19:16. 

A VERY beautiful legendary interest attaches to the belief, 
more general in an earlier day than this, that every child 
has its guardian angel appointed to attend it through its pil¬ 
grimage. Why should we doubt this? Did not our Lord Him¬ 
self say that in heaven their angels do always behold the face 
of My Father? A good deal of confusion exists in common 
speech as to the personality of angels. Surely, we are to regard 
them as the Book shows us, not as the ransomed saints, but as a 
separate order of beings, who are 6 ‘ Ministering spirits, sent forth 
to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. ” As such, 
forever young, though time was not born when their years began, 
forever obedient, forever tireless, they do the bidding of the 
Lord. I love to think that over each cradle bends the angel who 
is the infant’s guardian, and that each little one who goes 
home in childhood, and each who hears the call to cross the river 
in late years is met at the gate by his peculiar angel, who can 
take his hand and lead him in and make him acquainted in the 
strange place. —Margaret E. Sangster. 

Hand in hand with angels, 

Through the world we go; 

Brighter eyes are on us 
Than we blind ones know; 

Tenderer voices cheer us 
Than we deaf have known; 

Never walking heavenward 
Can we walk alone. 

Hand in hand with angels! 

Blessed so to be! 

Helped are all the helpers; 

Giving light, they see. 

He who aids another 

Strengthens more than one; 

Sinking earth he grapples 
To the great White Throne. 


- 40 - 


—Lucy Larcom. 


EARNESTNESS, THE BADGE OF NOBILITY. 

January t9. 


And it came to pass when the angels had brought them forth abroad, that they said: 
Escape for thy life.—Genesis 19:17. 


A NGEL (Greek angelos, a messenger), one of those spiritual 
intelligences who are regarded as dwelling in heaven and 
employed as the ministers or agents of God. To these the name 
of good angels is sometimes given, to distinguish them from bad 
angels, who were originally created to occupy the same blissful 
abode, hut lost it by rebellion. Scripture frequently speaks of 
angels, but with great reserve, Michael and Gabriel alone being 
mentioned by name in the canonical hooks. The angels are repre¬ 
sented in Scripture as in the most elevated state of intelligence, 
purity, bliss, ever doing the will of God so perfectly that we can 
seek for nothing higher or better than to aim at being like them. 
There are indications of a diversity of rank and power among 
them, and something like angelic orders. They are represented 
as frequently taking part in communications made from heaven 
to earth, as directly and actively ministering to the good of be¬ 
lievers, and shielding or delivering them from evils incident to 
their earthly lot. That every person has a good and a had angel 
attendant on him was an early belief, and is held to-day. 

—New Cyclopedia. 


Angel of God, whate’er betide, 
Thy summons I obey. 

As far as angels 1 ken. 


—Anonymous-. 
—Milton. 


There are who, gazing on the stars, 

Love tokens read from worlds of light, 

Not dim seen through prison bars, 

But as with angels welcome bright. 

—Keble. 


The angels from their thrones on high 
Look down on us with wondering eye, 

And see that where we shall not rest 
We firmly build a solid nest, 

But where we hope to live for aye 
We do not think one stone to lay. 

—Inscription from an old German house. 
— 41 — 


ROUSE THEE AND REJOICE. 


Sanuars 20. 

And the angel of God called to Hagar out of Heaven, and said unto her: What aileth 
thee, Hagar? Fear not.—Genesis 21:17. 

I T WILL hardly be denied that the mass of Christians think 
little, if at all, of angels; that they regard them as beings so 
far removed from companionship with ourselves that discourse 
on their nature and occupation must deserve the character of 
unprofitable speculation. If, then, the preacher takes his theme, 
“the burning spirits,” which surround God’s throne, he will 
probably be considered as adventuring upon mysteries too high 
for research, whilst there is abundance of more practical topics 
on which he might enlarge. Yet it cannot have been intended 
that we should thus remain ignorant of angels; it cannot be true 
that there is nothing to be ascertained in regard to these creatures 
or nothing which it is for our comfort and our instruction to 
know. There is a petition in our Lord’s prayer which should 
teach us better than this—“Thy will be done in earth as it is 
in heaven.” It must be especially by angels that God’s will 
is done in heaven; and if we are directed to take the manner or 
degree in which angels do God’s will, as measuring that in which 
we should desire its being done by men, surely it can neither be 
beyond our power to know anything of angels, nor unimportant 
that we study to be wise up to what is written regarding them in 
the Bible. -H. Melville. 

She rose; she turned; there in that lonely place 
God’s glory flashed upon her lifted face, 

And with a glory came an angel voice: 

“Hagar, what ailest? Rouse thee and rejoice!” 

—Edwin Arnold. 

Silence, oh earth! be silent in the presence 
Of the fair form who comes on noiseless wing, 

Bearing upon its downy plumes an essence 
From Quiet’s purest spring. 

Silence, oh Earth! an angel floats above thee— 

Not with the sounding pinions that upbear 
Dread seraphs through the air, 

Whose advent makes thine inmost pulses move thee, 
Awe-stricken at their power,—but with the night 
Of holiest calm, that stills those pulses in delight. 

—M. A. Browne. 

- 42 - 


THE CHARGE OF ANGELS OVER US. 


January? 21 


And the angel said to Hagar: Arise, lift up the lad, for I will make him a great 
nation.—Genesis 21:18. 



OD wants not either angels or men to fulfill the whole coun- 


sel of his will. But it is not his pleasure so to work. He 
never did; and we may reasonably suppose he never will. What¬ 
ever help, therefore, we have, either by angels or men, is as much 
the work of God as if he were to work without any means at all. 
But in all ages he has used the ministry of both men and angels; 
and hereby, especially, is seen 4 ‘the manifold wisdom of God in 
the church.” God is pleased to give his angels charge over us, 
namely, that he may endear us and them to each other; that by 
the increase of our love and gratitude to them we may find a 
proportionable increase of happiness, when we meet in our 
Father’s kingdom. In the meantime, though we may not wor¬ 
ship angels (worship is due only to our common Creator), yet 
we may “esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” 
And we may imitate them in all holiness, suiting our lives to the 
prayer our Lord himself has taught us; laboring to do his will 
on earth, as angels do in heaven. —Wesley. 


Very simple are my pleasures, 
0 good angel, stay with me. 


—Alice Cary. 


The sweetest song by angels hymned 
Had for its key-note, 11 Peace/ ' 


—Anonymous. 


How should ethereal natures comprehend 
A thing made up of spirit and of clay, 

Were we not task'd to nurse it and to tend, 

Linked one to one throughout its mortal day? 

More than the Seraph in his height of place, 

The angel-guardian knows and loves the ransom'd race. 


—J. H. Newman, D. D. 


— 43 — 


GOD’S ANGEL STAYED HIM. 


January 22. 


And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said: Ahraham! 
Ahraham!—Genesis 22:11. 


T HUS far even the Painims have approached; thus far have 
they seen into the doings of the angels of God; Orpheus, con¬ 
fessing that the fiery throne of God is attended on by those most 
industrious angels, careful how all things are performed amongst 
men; and the mirror of human wisdom plainly teaching that God 
moveth angels, even as that thing doth stir man’s heart which 
is therein presented amiable. Angelical actions may therefore 
be reduced unto these three general kinds: First, most delectable 
love, arising from the visible apprehensions of the purity, glory 
and beauty of God, invisible saving only unto spirits that are 
pure; second, adoration grounded upon the evidence of the great¬ 
ness of God, on whom they see how all things depend; third, 
imitation bred by the presence of His exemplary goodness, who 
ceaseth not before them daily to fill heaven and earth with the 
rich treasures of most free and undeserved grace. 

—Hooker. 


Abraham held 

His loved, his beautiful, his only son, 

And lifted up his arms and called on God; 

And lo! God’s angel stayed him—and he fell 
Upon his face and wept. 

—Willis. 

Busy angels spread 

The lasting roll, recording what he said. 

—Prior. 


Angel hosts His word fulfil, 

Ruling nature by His will. 

—Carmina Sanctorum. 


- 44 - 


DO ANGELS EXIST? 


3anuarg 23. 

And the angel called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time.—Genesis 22:15. 

T HERE are many who deny the existence of any spiritual be¬ 
ings save God and man. The wide universe is to them a 
solitary land, without inhabitants. There is but one oasis, filled 
with living creatures. It is the earth on which we move; and we 
who have from century to century crawled from birth to death, 
are the only living spirits. There is something pitiable in this 
impertinence. It is a drop of dew in the lonely cup of a gentian, 
which imagines itself to be all the water in the universe. It is 
the summer midge which has never left its forest pool, dreaming 
that it and its companions are the only living creatures in earth 
or air. There is no proof of the existence of other beings than 
ourselves, but there is also no proof of the contrary. Apart 
from revelation, we can think about the subject as we please. 
But it does seem incredible that we alone should represent in the 
universe the image of God; and if in one solitary star another 
race of beings dwell, if we concede the existence of a single spirit 
other than ourselves, we have allowed the principle. The angelic 
world of which the Bible speaks is possible to faith. 

—Stopford Brooke. 


The angel ended, and in Adam’s ear 
So charming left his voice, that he awhile 
Thought him still speaking, still stood fixed. 

— Milton. 

Round His throne archangels pour 
Songs of praise forever more. 

— Carmina Sanctorum. 


How angel-like he sings. 


— Shakespeare. 


LIKE ANGELS’ VISITS. 


January 24. 

And the angel said: By myself have I sworn, caith the Lord, that in blessing I will 
bless thee.—Genesis 22:16. 

T HERE is nothing in anything which is told us of the nature 
of the employments of angels in the Scriptures, which proves 
that angels are absolutely destitute of proper material bodies of 
any kind. Indeed, as the Son of God is to have “a glorious 
body,” “a spiritual body,” forever, and since all the redeemed 
are to have bodies like His, and since angels are associated with 
redeemed men as members of the same kingdom, it may appear 
probable that angels may have been created with physical organi¬ 
zations not altogether dissimilar to the 4 ‘ spiritual bodies’ ’ of the 
redeemed. They always appeared and spoke to men in Bible 
times in the bodily form of men, and as such they ate food and 
lodged in houses like common men. In certain situations the 
angels “appeared” precisely like common men, and in other 
situations they acted very differently, in passing through stone 
walls, appearing and disappearing at will. The angel who ap¬ 
peared to Abraham, and whose feet he washed, and who ate the 
meat he had prepared, was Jehovah, the Second Person of the 
Trinity. —Hodge. 

If God gives them charge concerning us, how cheerfully and 
trustfully we ought to enter upon the journey of the opening 
year! When w T e need them most, they may be at hand. 

— Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. 

0 our angel friends above us! 

Come, illume our darkened sphere, 

Let us know that still you love us, 

Let us feel your presence here. 

— Submit C. Loomis. 





— 46 — 



EVERY CREATURE’S THEME. 


January 25. 


And the angel said: In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth he blessed; because 
thou hast obeyed my voice.—Genesis 22:18. 

N O VISION that ever haunted forest, or gleamed over hill¬ 
side, but calls you to understand how it came into men’s 
hearts, and may still touch them; and all Paradise is open to you 
—yes, and the work of Paradise; for in bringing all this, in per¬ 
petual, attractive truth, before the eyes of your fellowmen, you 
have to join in the employment of the angels as well as to imagine 
their companies. —Euskin. 

Walking somewhere with friends one day (it is, I fancy, one 
of old Vasari’s stories), Michael Angelo noticed a rough block, 
worthy, so experience taught him, of his hand. Something of 
this sort he said: “In that block, my friends, there is an angel, 
and I mean to set him free. ’ ’ His friends smiled, but the words 
he said were true, and Angelo meant business. Out of the rough 
stone he hewed an angel, as he alone knew how—speaking this 
day the artist’s genius, adorning still, I suppose, some church 
or palace in his native Florence. How many an angel lies en¬ 
thralled in their rough human souls, needing only an Angelo to 
set him free! —Canon Knox Little. 

Mighty God, while angels bless Thee, 

May a mortal sing Thy Name? 

Loved of men as well as angels, 

Thou art every creature’s theme, 

For the grandeur of Thy nature— 

Grand beyond a seraph’s thought. 

—Albert Lowe. 

God’s interpreter art thou, 

To the waiting ones below; 

’Twixt them and its light midway 
Heralding the better day. 

Catching gleams of temple spires 
Hearing notes of angel choirs, 

Where, as yet unseen of them, 

Comes the new Jerusalem! 

- 47 - 


—Whittier. 


GUARD AND GUIDE. 


January 26 . 

He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from 
thence.—Genesis 24:7. 

H OW wide is the compass of benevolence in heaven, and how 
exquisite is the feeling of its tenderness, and how pure and 
how fervent are its aspirings among those unfallen beings who 
have no darkness and no encumbering weight of corruption to 
strive against! Angels have a mightier reach of contemplation. 
Angels can look upon the world, and all which it inherits, as the 
part of a larger family. Angels were in the full exercise of their 
powers even at the first infancy of our species, and shared in the 
gratulations of that period, and the morning stars sang together 
for joy. They loved us even with that love which a family on 
earth bears to a younger sister, and the very childhood of our 
tinier faculties did only serve the more to endear us to them; and 
though bom at a later hour in the history of creation, did they 
regard us as heirs of the same destiny with themselves, to rise 
along with them in the scale of moral elevation, to bow at the 
same footstool, and to partake in those high dispensations of a 
parent’s kindness, and a parent’s care, which are ever emanating 
from the throne of the Eternal. —Dr. Chalmers. 


Flitting, flitting, ever near thee, 

Sitting, sitting by thy side, 

Like thy shadow all unweary, 

Angel beings guard and guide. 

Like an arrow through the air, 

Or the fountain-flow of light, 

Ministering angels fair 
Cleave the deep of night. 

Quick as thought’s electric glow, 

Down into earth’s chambers dark, 

Fire-wheels running to and fro, 

Like the eyes of God they dart; 

Watching o’er the earth’s green bound, 

Searching all the cities round. 

—M. P. Aird. 


- 48 - 











































mWr% 

mm 




EMIGRATING CHRISTIANS 

(See page 59) 


Kaulbach 







MIGHTY, INVISIBLE AGENCIES. 


January 27. 


And he said unto me: The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with thee, 
and prosper thy way.—Genesis 24:40. 


S THE stars with all their constellations are shining over- 



** head, although the clouds at night or the glare of the day 
may shut them from our sight; as nearly all the great forces of the 
world are invisible—electricity, attraction, chemical action, light, 
air—so we may be sure that, as Prof. Taylor Lewis says: “In¬ 
visible beings, superhuman if not angelic, having ethereal vehicles 
of motion, and of vast force, may occupy not merely the surface 
of the earth, and of other bodies which we suppose to be inhabited, 
but fill the air, the ether lying above the air, and all the inter¬ 
vening resisting space .between the remotest parts of the earth, 
visible to our telescope. There is nothing incredible, irrational 
or unscientific in the idea. The consoling doctrine of mighty 
invisible agencies forming vast hosts under God’s direction, 
working in nature, perhaps in its most interior depths, and all 
for the carrying on of his moral kingdom, is too clearly presented 
on the face of the Bible to be denied. This is a rational as well 
as a glorious belief. Well says an author of note: ‘To insist 
that nothing exists but what the human eye can see is more worthy 
the intellect of a Calaban than that of a Milton or a Newton.’ ” 


—Peloubet. 


Glorious! 

How like the pathway for the sainted ones— 

The pure and beautiful intelligences 
Who minister in Heaven, and offer up 
Their praise as incense; or, like that which rose 
Before the pilgrim prophet, when the tread 
Of the most holy angels brightened it, 

And in his dream the haunted sleeper saw 
The ascending and descending of the blest! 


—Whittier. 


- 49 - 


ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING. 


Sanuarg 28 . 

And Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached 
to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. 

—Genesis 28:12. 

T HE prophetic ladder let down from heaven, upon which Jacob 
saw the angels of God ascending and descending, has been 
appropriated hv Jesus unto Himself. Communication with 
heaven, interrupted by sin, has been restored through Him. For 
Him who is the Lord of Angels these unseen messengers are ever 
traveling the shining pathway, bearing gifts and succor from the 
distant bridegroom to His bereaved and lonely bride. As they 
are His servants, so they are the servants of the church. Surely 
the cultivation of our souls in fellowship with angels must lift 
the aspirations and purify the conduct. The human heart craves 
some real, though spiritual, companionship. This explains the 
satisfaction found in so-called spiritualism, which is demonology. 
It is counterfeit angelologv. Let us weigh well the benefits to 
be derived from an unreserved and scriptural faith in the strong 
and tender offices of these God-appointed messengers of grace. 
With such companionship and succor at hand, who need fear the 
loneliness or peril of any earthly circumstance? A Patmos will 
become a paradise, a prison a palace, and a pillow of stone a 
pathway of light. —Mrs. Geo. C. Needham. 

From yon veil of midnight darkness rending, 

Came the rich mysteries to the sleeper’s eye, 

That saw your hosts ascending and descending 

On those bright steeps between the earth and sky; 

Trembling he woke, and bowed o’er glory’s trace, 

And worshipped awe-struck in that fearful place. 

—Mrs. Hemans. 

Let Thy bless’d angels while I sleep 
Around my bed their virgils keep. 

—Bishop Ken. 

Voices are heard: a choir of golden strings, 

Low winds whose breath is loaded with the rose; 

Then chariot wheels; the nearer rush of wings; 

Pale lightning round the park pavilion glows; 

It thunders—the resplendent gates unclose. 

Far as the eye can glance, on height o’er height, 

Rose fiery waving wings, and star-crowned brows, 

Millions on millions, brighter and more bright, 

Till all is lost in one supreme, unmingled light. 

—Crowley. 

Yet to pure eyes that ladder still is set, 

And angel visitants come and go. —William Alexander. 


GUARDIANS BRIGHT' DISPLAY SENSIBLE QUALITIES. 

January 29. 

And the Angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying: Jacob! and I said: Here 
am I.—-Genesis 31:11. 

I N EVERY instance in which angels have been sent on embas¬ 
sies to mankind they have displayed sensible qualities. They 
exhibited a definite form, somewhat analogous to that of man, 
and color and splendor, which were perceptible to the organ of 
seeing—they emitted sounds which struck the organ of hearing— 
they produced the harmonies of music, and sung sublime senti¬ 
ments, which were uttered in articulate words, that were dis¬ 
tinctly heard and recognized by the persons to whom they were 
sent; and they exerted their power over the sense of feeling. In 
these instances angels manifested themselves to men through the 
medium of three principal senses, by which we recognize the 
properties of material objects; and why, then, should we con¬ 
sider them so purely immaterial in the universe? We have no 
knowledge of angels but from Revelation; and all the descriptions 
it gives of these glorious beings lead us to conclude that they are 
connected with the world of matter, as well as with the world of 
mind, and are furnished with organical vehicles, composed of 
some refined material substances suitable to their nature and em¬ 
ployments. —Rev. Dr. Dick. 

When a traveler tells us that he saw Padam-Aram, we believe 
him; when he tells us that he there saw a “ladder” reaching to 
heaven, connecting the worlds, we turn away from him with dis¬ 
trust. Why believe about the stones, and not about thoughts? 
Why be less than we need be? Why thrust from us a man who 
tells us he has news of heaven ? Why tarry among the loneliest 
of our race, when we might come to an innumerable company of 
angels, and the spirits of the just made perfect? The time is at 
hand—always at hand—the vision is ready; the King’s door is 
ajar; the King’s fall is outlined on the cloud. 

—Dr. Joseph Parker. 

Sleep undisturbed within this peaceful shrine, 

Till angels wake thee with a note like thine. 


- 51 - 


—Johnson. 


THIS IS THE GATE OF HEAVEN. 


The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw 

Angels ascending and descending, bands 

Of guardians bright, when he from Esau fled 

To Padam-Aram, in the field of leng 

Dreaming by night under the open sky 

And waking cried: “This is the gate of heaven.” 

—Edmund Spencer. 

Opens a door in heaven; 

From skies of glass 
A Jacob’s ladder falls 
On greening grass, 

And o’er the mountain-walls 
Young angels pass. 


— Tennyson. 


SHOW HEAVENLY POWERS. 


January 30. 

And the angel said: Lift up now thine eyes, for I have seen all that Laban doeth 
unto thee.—Genesis 31:12. 

I N THE Scriptures we have frequent notice of spiritual intelli¬ 
gences, existing in another state of being, and constituting a 
celestial family, or hierarchy, over which Jehovah presides. The 
Bible does not, however, treat of this matter professedly and as 
a doctrine of religion, but merely adverts to it incidentally as a 
fact, without furnishing any details to gratify curiosity. It 
speaks of no obligations of ours to these spirits, and of no duties 
to be performed towards them. A belief in the existence of such 
beings is not, therefore, an essential article of religion, any more 
than a belief that there are other worlds besides our own; but 
such a belief serves to enlarge our ideas of the works of God, and 
to illustrate the greatness of his power and wisdom. 

—Kitto. 


But if God’s angels are sent to “wait on them who are the 
heirs of salvation,’’ and if they “encamp around them that fear 
Him,” why may not angelic agencies have been acting in some 
mysterious manner upon us? —Swedenborg. 

Which of the petty kings of earth 
Can boast a guard like ours, 

Encircled from our second birth 
With all the heavenly powers? 

Myriads of bright cherubic bands, 

Sent by the King of Kings, 

Rejoice to bear us in their hands, 

And shade us with their wings. 

— Charles Wesley. 


- 53 - 


AID FROM THE OTHER SIDE. 


3anwarp 31. 


And the angel said: I am the God of Bethel.—Genesis 31:13. 


HEN the most majestic divine of the English Church, 



V V Richard Hooker, was on his death-bed, he was found deep 
in contemplation, and on being asked the subjects of his thoughts 
he replied ‘ 1 that he was meditating upon the number and nature 
of angels, and their blessed obedience and order, without which 
peace could not be in heaven; and oh! that it might be so on 
earth!” It was meditation full of the same grand thought which 
inspired the great work the thought of the majesty of law, 
“whose seat,” he says, “is in the bosom of God, and whose voice 
is the harmony of the universe.” The very words of which 
the angelic intelligences are described, “thrones, principalities 
and powers,” the very connection into which they are brought 
with the searching laws of nature, ‘ ‘ maketh the winds his angels, 
and the flames of fire his ministers.” —Dean Stanley. 


There are silent, unseen forces 
Unto truth that are allied; 

And the legions of the angels 
Aid us from the other side. 

There are voices from the silence 
Soft as sweep of seraph’s wings. 

—J. A. Edgerton. 

There are those whose spirits walk 

Abreast of angels and the future here; 

Respect and love thou such. 


—Anonymous. 


- 54 - 


BOOK II. 


jfebruar^. 


i 




Jfebruai^ 


TROOP OF ANGELS ISSUES FORTH. 


jfebruars t 


And Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him.—Genesis 32:1. 


E MUST learn this duty, not to grieve these good spirits. 



V V As it is wondrous humility that they will stoop to be serv¬ 
ants to us, that are of a weaker, baser nature than they, so it is 
wondrous patience that they will continue still to guard us, not¬ 
withstanding we do that which grieves them; one motion to keep 
us in the way of obedience, that we do not grieve those blessed 
spirits that are our guard and attendance. Let us consider when 
we are alone—it would keep us from many sins—no eye of man 
seeth; aye, but God seeth, and conscience within seeth, and angels 
without are witnesses; they grieve at it, and the devils about us 
rejoice at it. —Anonymous. 

There is a legend that when Jacob, with his family and flocks, 
met Esau, the angels of God hovered in the air above the two 
brothers and began to rain gifts down upon their companies. 
Strangely enough, each forgetting the gifts falling in his own 
camp, rushed forth to pick up the gifts falling in that of his 
brother. There was anger stirred. Epithets and stones began 
to fly, until the air was filled with the flying weapons. In such 
a scrimmage the messengers of peace had no place. Soon the 
sound of receding wings died out of the air, the gifts ceased to 
fall, and all things faded in the light of common day. This 
legend interprets to us how harshness breeds strife, and robs man 
of his gifts from God. — Kev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D. 


- 57 - 



58 


WHOM ANGELS LONG TO SEE. 


The troop of angels issues forth from the depths of that in¬ 
visible world which surrounds us on every side. —Godet. 

But two beside the sleeping pilgrims stand, 

Like cherub-kings, with lifted mightj^ plume, 

Fixed sun-bright eyes, and looks of high command; 

They tell the patriot of his glorious doom,— 

Father of countless myriads that shall come 
Sweeping the land like billows of the sea, 

Bright as the stars of heaven from twilight’s gloom , 

Till He is given whom angels long to see, 

And seraph’s splendid line is crossed with deity. 


—Crowley. 


I 


OUR CHERUB KINGS. 

jfebruat)? 2. 

And when Jacob saw the angels, he said: This is God's host; and he ealksd th« name 
of that place Mahanaim.—Genesis 32:2. 

T HE angels are “two hosts”—“Mahanaimthat is, two¬ 
fold defense, before and behind. The double host is an em¬ 
blem of that angelic guardianship which is promised to all of 
God’s saints in their earthly pilgrimage. 

—Pulpit Commentary. 

Taken collectively, the angels form the hosts of Jehovah, or 
the host of heaven, names correlative to the new title of God, 
which springs up to the close of the period of the judges. The 
nature of angels as divine armies is not like that of the individual 
“messenger” closely connected with the theophanic history, but 
belongs rather to the delineation of the majesty of God in poetry 
and prophecy. — Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Could I but see Him 

Once, once again! But must I needs despair 
Since those fair angels met me this same mom 
At Manhanaim, God’s great unseen host 
Marching to heaven’s low music through the wild 
To camp about His children! Not by chance— 

It could not be—God’s escort met me first, 

Ere I got news of Esau’s armed band 
Traveling to crush me—where God’s angels come, 

He’s sure to follow. 

—Charles Armstrong Eox. 

When Jacob, journeying with his feeble bands, 

Trembled to fall into a brother’s hands; 

At twilight, lingering in the rear, he saw, 

God’s host around his tents their ’campment draw:— 

While, with a stranger, in mysterious strife, 

Wrestling till break of day for more than life; 

He prayed, he wept, he cried in his distress, 

“I will not let thee go except thou bless!” 


-59 


—Montgomery. 


CELESTIAL TRAVELERS, 

jfebruarg 3. 

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled an angel with him until the breaking 
of the day.—Genesis 32:24. 

A ND now have we not come to this, that there are ways to fight 
the great battle of life—two different kinds of fighters ! One 
man fights in the light, another in the darkness. One man is 
always conscious of God, and of the ministries that God employs 
to bless and influence his life. Whenever he is afraid, these pre¬ 
servers rise up to reassure him. Whenever the cause looks 
desperate he turns to the mountain, and there are these hosts of 
the spiritual life. The other man knows nothing of it at all; he 
fights a despairing battle; his heart is full of fear. Tell me, 
which is the safest, which is the strongest life! I do not say that 
the man who does not see these higher things is all the same as 
if they did not exist. I am sure that God and His angels help 
many a struggler who does not know where the help comes from. 
We are not asking God to make a spiritual world for us, only to 
see it as it is. The divine existence multiplies itself. 

The company of spiritual beings who surround Him with their 
loyalty and love, the angels in countless orders sweeping upward 
from the ministers of man’s lower wants up to those who stand 
nearest the throne, all these in some belief or other have been 
included in the faith of every race of men, of almost every man 
who had come to the knowledge of a spiritual world and trusted 
in a God. We must not rob ourselves of the strength and richness 
that the thought of the existence of angels have to give. 

—Bishop Phillips Brooks. 

Dear angels and dear disembodied saints 
Unseen around us worshiping in rest, 

May wonder that man’s heart so often faints 
• And his steps lay along the heavenly quest. 

— Christina Rossetti. 

Come, 0 thou Traveler unknown, 

Whom still I hold, but cannot see! 

My company before is gone, 

And I am left alone with Thee; 

With Thee all night I mean to stay 
And wrestle till the break of day/ 

Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, 

Till I Thy name, Thy nature know. —Charles Wesley. 
- 60 - 


ANGEL POWERS FINITE. 


dfebruatg 4. 

And when the angel saw that he prevailed not against Jacob, he touched the hollow 
of his thigh.—Genesis 32:25. 

T HE power of the angels must be very great, as compared with 
that of man. In Scripture God is often called “Jehovah of 
hosts,” because the angels, as a great army, do his bidding; and 
from the way in which this designation is applied we naturally 
infer that the soldiers of the heavenly host are mighty and glo¬ 
rious, answering, in some slight degree, and far better than any 
earthly beings, to the greatness of God. Yet the power of angels 
is strictly finite, and therefore as nothing in comparison with 
that of God. They are never represented as sharing in the work 
of creation; and they are always described as subject to God or 
to Christ. — Hovey. 


The good angel, after every action, closes 
His volume, and ascends with it to God. 

The other keeps his dreadful day-book open 
Till sunset, that we may repent; which doing, 

The record of the action fades away, 

And leaves a line of white across the page. 

Now t if my act be good, as I believe, 

It cannot be recalled. It is already 

Sealed up in heaven, as a good deed accomplished. 

The rest is yours. 

—Longfellow. 

Listen! To cheer thy heart, 

These angel voices come, 

Whispering: “Onward is thy path, 

And upward is thy home. ” 

—Anonymous. 


HOLD THE FLEET ANGEL FAST. 




jfebruati? 5. 


And tb© angel said: Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said: I will not let 
thee go except thou bless me. And the angel said unto him: What is thy name? 

—Genesis 32:26. 

J ACOB’S dream, with the ascending and descending angels, is 
an exquisite motive for illustration, which artists have 
variously pictured. In the sixth arcade of the Vatican loggia 
is Raphael’s third and best representation of this dream. Rem¬ 
brandt’s painting in the Dulwich gallery is a poem as essentially 
as it is a picture. A stream of dazzling light forms the ladder, up 
and down which float mystic, radiant angels. 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 

But there is another kind of apparition from the unseen world 
so frequent in Holy Writ as to leave its possibility without a 
question, and its probability only a matter of experience. I mean 
the apparition of angelic messengers, such as were used to fre¬ 
quent the patriarchs’ tents, and instruct the prophets of olden 
time. —Caroline Fry. 


Not only in the olden time 

A ladder stretched from earth to sky; 

A weary pilgrim at the foot, 

And angels issuing from on high. 

Forever where a yearning heart, 

Bewildered, far from love and home, 

Seeks God and will not be denied, 

With messages the angels come. 

—Mary F. Butts. 

Hold the fleet angel fast until he bless thee. 

—Nathaniel Cotton. 


- 62 -* 


SO SPAKE THE GUARDIAN ANGEL. 


IFebcuarg 6. 


And the angel said: Thy name shall he called no more Jacob but Israel; for as a 
prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.—Genesis $2:28. 


S TO the time when the angels were created, much has been 



said by the learned. Some wonder that Moses, in his ac¬ 
count of the creation, should pass over this in silence. Others 
believe that he did this because of the proneness of the Gentile 
world, and even the Jews, to idolatry; but a better reason has 
been assigned by others, namely, that this first history was pur¬ 
posely written for information concerning the visible world; the 
invisible, of which we know in part, being reserved for a better 
life. As to the nature of angels, we are told that they are spirits, 
but whether pure spirits, divested of all matter, or united to some 
thin bodies or corporeal vehicles, has been a controversy of long 
standing. The more general opinion is, that they are substances 
entirely spiritual, though they can at any time assume bodies, 
and appear in human shape. —Charles Buck. 

Yet as we trudge along the dusty road of duty, the angels often 
meet us, even though our eyes recognize no visitant with the luster 
of heaven on his wings. —Rev. Theodore L. Cuvier, D. D. 


So spake the guardian angel; then aloft 
His wings, non-visible, with hovering soft, 

That made mysterious music, fanned the air; 

And now the clouds, self-parting, downward sent 
A rosy dew, that all the earth besprent; 

While, upward as he passed, the stars did wear 
A thousand gorgeous hues that from his glory went. 


—Washington Allston. 


-as- 


TWO ANGELS, ONLY, NAMED IN SCRIPTURE. 

jfebruarg 7. 

And Jacob asked the angel and said: Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.—Genesis 32:29. 

A NGELOLOGY has not been a frequent or favorite theme of 
late, either for private study or pulpit treatment. This neg¬ 
lect, for such it would seem to be, has resulted partly from an 
undue depreciation of the doctrine, and partly from the reactive 
influences resulting from the crudities and extravagances of 
medieval speculation. The schoolmen took their position at one 
extreme; we are in danger of gravitating to the other extreme. 
All that is needed, however, is a little calm, critical and consistent 
scholarship, and we shall be able to overcome the pendulum’s 
momentum and make it assume its perpendicular, proper posi¬ 
tion. This is not a doctrine which we are justified in ignoring. 
(1) Because angels are found everywhere in the Bible from the 
account of the Creation to the description of the Judgment, and 
are closely connected with almost every important event in the 
history of both the Old and New Dispensations. (2) Erroneous 
views with regard to the angels have crept into the minds of the 
people, and not only are these extra-scriptural, but their influence 
is subversive and vitiating to a pure, evangelic faith. (3) The 
nature, history and occupation of these heavenly beings suggest 
some pertinent and wholesome lessons, and illustrate in a fresh 
and striking manner some of the commonest truths of evangelical 
preaching. For these three reasons, among various others, angel- 
ologv is an important doctrine, and in formulating it we should 
insist upon being strictly and consistently Scriptural. 

—Rev. John Balcom Shaw, D. D. 

Mighty God, while angels bless thee, 

May an infant praise thy name? 

' Lord df men as well as angels, 

Thou art every creature’s theme. 


—Robert Robinson. 


Reynolds 


THE CHERUB CHOIR 


(See page 72) 























MORNING—THE OVERWORKED MOTHER AND THE ANGEL 

(See page 73) 







PRINCES OF THE REALM ABOVE. 

JFebruarg 8. 

Ana the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst 
of a bui*.—Exodus 3:2. 

T HE highest angels seem alone in the Old Testament to have 
been employed in human service; always, however, in sub¬ 
ordination to One Who, called an angel, is the Lord Himself. He 
was the Angel of the Covenant, a Divine Person, who, before He 
became man, appeared in human form, taking the name though 
He never took the nature of angels. —Pope. 

When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning 
bush, he was commanded to put off his shoes from his feet, for 
the place whereon he stood was holy ground. With what rever¬ 
ence and awe, then, should we approach the contemplation of the 
great reality—God manifest in the flesh—of which the vision of 
Moses was but a significant type and shadow. 

—Philip Schaff, D. D. 

Heavenly messengers have been represented in all ages of the 
church as furnished with wings. — McClintock. 

In guise a seraph wrapt with love aflame 
And all aflame with knowledge, like the bush 
That burned with God in Horeb uneonsumed. 

—Prof. Wilkinson. 


Right and seemly were it then 
We should glory that our God 
Hath such honor put on men, 

That He sends o ’er earth abroad 
Princes of the realm above, 
Champions, who by day and night, 
Shield us with His holy might! 


—Rist. 


- 65 - 


GOD’S ESCORT. 


February 9. 


And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the first horn in the land of 
Egypt.—Exodus 12:29. 


A ND how astonishing is the strength of an angel. Even a 
fallen angel is styled by an inspired writer, “the prince of 
the powers of the air.’ ’ How terrible a proof did he 41 smote the 
fonr corners of the house” and destroyed all the children of Job 
at once. That this was his work we may easily learn from the 
command to ‘ ‘ save his life. ’ 9 But he gave far more terrible proof 
of his strength when he smote with death the Assyrian host in 
one night. Yet a strength abundantly greater than this must have 
been exerted by that angel (whether he was an angel of light or 
of darkness, which is not determined by the text) who smote in 
one hour “all the first born of Egypt.” And if this be supposed 
to have been an evil angel, must not a good angel be strong, yea, 
stronger than he? For surely any good angel must have more 
power than ever an archangel ruined. How often does God 
deliver us from evil men by the ministry of His angels—overturn¬ 
ing whatever their rage, or malice, or subtlety had plotted against 
us! These are about their bed, and about their path, and privy 
to all their dark designs; and many of them they probably 
brought to naught by means that we think not of. Sometimes 
blast their favorite schemes in the beginning; sometimes, when 
they are just ripe for execution. And this they can do by a 
thousand means that we are not aware of. They can check them 
in their mad career by bereaving them of courage or strength, 
by striking faintness through their loins, or turning their wisdom 
into foolishness. And who can hurt us while we have armies of 
angels, and the God of angels, on our side? 


—Wesley. 


Art thou anything? 

Art thou some God, some angel, or some devil? 

—Shakespeare. 


Through Egypt’s wicked land his march he took, 

And as he marched, the sacred first-born strook 
Of every womb; none did he spare, 

None from the meanest beast to Pharaoh’s purple heir. 


- 66 - 


UP TO THE THRONE OF GRACE. 


67 


Whilst health and strength and gladness doth possess 
The festal Hebrew cottages; 

The blest destroyer comes not there 
To interrupt the sacred cheer. 

—Abraham Cowley. 

Know 

There is a rose-lip’d seraph sits on high, 

Who ever bends his holy ear to earth 
To mark the voice of penitence, to catch 
Her solemn sighs, to time them to his harp, 

And echo them in harmonies divine 
Up to the throne of grace. 


Mason, 


ARMIES OF ANGELS. 


tfebruatg to. 

And the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind 
them.—Exodus 14:19. 

I N REVERING it is no more necessary to worship the blessed 
angels than the most saintly of our departed friends; but 
when we think of all the glory and perfection with which God 
has adorned them, their unselfish joy at the Incarnation, though 
their God 4 ‘ Took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took 
on Him the seed of Abraham”; their deep interest in man, re¬ 
vealed to us from beginning to end of Holy Scripture; their 
vigilant care of each one of us as day and night they watch and 
guard us; the perils through which they have shielded us, and 
all their patient and unrecognized ministrations—we may well 
ask ourselves what we should feel if anyone requited our love 
and care, as we do theirs! How shall we meet them face to face 
without shame if, instead of reverential and grateful love, we 
receive their ceaseless services with careless and thankless indif¬ 
ference ? — Anonymous. 

The same apostle, cautious against despising prophesying, 
does also give us to understand that angels were not to discon¬ 
tinue their visits to men in future times of the Church; as, when 
exhorting us not to “be forgetful to entertain strangers,” he 
adds, “for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” 
Now there would be no encouragement nor argument in the latter 
part of the verse, unless the same might happen to be the case 
with us also. But wherefore should we doubt that those blessed 
friendly beings should take delight in exercising their good-will 
to men by many kind offices, both visible and invisible, according 
to the good pleasure of our common Lord; as by preserving us 
in many dangers, protecting us against the assaults of evil men 
and evil spirits, and by counseling, warning and helping us, by 
various ways and means we know not of ? 

—Rev. Thomas Hartly. 

Oh, well the denizens of heaven 
Their Master’s children know 
— 68 — 


THE LOVED DISCIPLE SMILED. 


69 


By filial yearnings sweet and even, 

By patient smiles in woe. 

By gage of meek inquiring turned 
Towards the informing eye, 

By tears that to obey have learned, 

By clasped hands on high. 

Well may we guess our guardians tone 
Stoop low and tarry long, 

Each accent noting, each faint hue, 

That shows us weak or strong. 

And even as loving nurses here 
Joy in the babe to find 
The likeness tone kinsman dear 
Or brother good and kind. 

So in each budding inward grace 
The seraph’s searching ken, 

The memory haply may retrace 
Of ancient, holy men. 

“And hark!” saith one, “the soul I guide— 
I heard it gently sigh 
In such a tone as Peter sighed, 

Touched by his Saviour’s eye.” 

“And see,” another cries, “how oft 
Smiles on that little child 
You aged man! even so full oft 
The loved Disciple smiled. 


—Keble. 


SUPERIOR BEINGS. 


ffebruarg ll. 

Behold I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into 
the place which I have prepared.—Exodus 23:20. 

T HE doctrine of tlie ministry of angels, so much esteemed by 
the primitive church, as well as by the most eminent and 
pious Christians of all ages, has now become one of those which, 
without any one well-founded argument, is to be reasoned away. 
The repeated appearance of angels, both in the old and new dis¬ 
pensations, seems designed to point out to us the near, though 
mysterious connection of the invisible state with that which we 
now inhabit. And what can be more consolatory to the believer 
than the idea, corroborated by numerous passages in the Scrip¬ 
ture, than the belief that the angels of heaven are around us, the 
ministering spirits of God for our good, watching over us and 
fulfilling the wisdom of His providence! Why should the opinion 
be disclaimed? Angels were present at the creation; they have 
been repeatedly manifested to man. They are the happy possess¬ 
ors of that blessedness to which the spirits of the departed hope 
to be admitted. And they shall be again visible in their thousands 
of thousands at that magnificent and glorious triumph, when the 
Ancient of Days shall sit on the throne of His glory. Is it impos¬ 
sible, then, that they are invisible yet efficient agents in many of 
those innumerable events which are attended with moral and 
religious benefit to individuals and to the world; which are but 
too generally ascribed to incidental circumstances, or the well-laid 
plans of human policy? . . . The early fathers regarded the 

ministry of angels as a consoling and beautiful doctrine, and so 
much at that time was it held in veneration that the founders of 
Christianity cautioned their early converts against permitting 
their reverence to degenerate into adoration. We now go to the 
opposite extreme, and seldom think of their existence; yet what 
is to be found in this belief, even if the Scriptures had not revealed 
it, which is contrary to our reason? We believe in our own exist¬ 
ence, and in the existence of God; is it utterly improbable, then, 
that between us, who are so inferior, and the Creator, who is so 
wonderful and incomprehensible, infinite gradations should exist, 

- 70 - 


OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 


n 


some of whom are employed in executing the will of the Deity 
toward finite creations ? Does not God act even by human means 
in the visible government of the affairs of earth? What absurdity, 
then, can be discovered in the opinion that the spiritual nature of 
man should he under the guardianship of spiritual beings? This, 
in fact, was a doctrine universally received till it became perverted 
and degraded by vain and idle speculations, that the belief itself 
was rejected. Through the whole volume of Revelation we read 
of the agency of superior beings in the affairs of mankind. 

—Dr. George Townsend. 

Father, before Thy throne of light 
The guardian angels bend, 

And ever in Thy Presence bright 
Their psalms adoring blend; 

And casting down each golden crown, 

Beside the crystal sea, 

With voice and lyre, in happy choir, 

Hymn glory, Lord, to Thee. 

And as the rainbow lustre falls 
Athwart their glowing wings, 

While seraph unto seraph calls, 

And each Thy goodness sings; 

So may we feel, as low we kneel 
To pray Thee for Thy grace, 

That Thou art here for all who fear 
The brightness of Thy face. 

Here, where the angels see us come 
To worship day by day, 

Teach us to seek our heavenly home 
And love Thee even as they; 

Teach us to raise our notes of praise, 

With them Thy love to own, 

That childhood’s flower and manhood’s power 
Be Thine, and Thine alone. 


— Canon Farrar. 


CHERUBS WITH SMILING EYES. 


dfebruarg 12. 

And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat 
with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another, toward the mercy seat shall 
the faces of the cherubim be.—Exodus 25:20. 

T HERE is a harmonious relation between the dispensation of 
grace to man and the heavenly world. Cherubim are placed 
before us in Scripture under two views. First, as the ministers 
of divine vengeance. Thus, when man was expelled from Para¬ 
dise, cherubim and a flaming sword were placed at the east end of 
the gate of Eden, to keep the way of the tree of life. But in the 
tabernacle they appear under very different aspects. There were 
figures of cherubim embroidered on the ark; and there were 
figures of cherubim carved and placed on the covering of the 
mercy seat. In neither case was there a flaming sword; but on 
the contrary, hiding the ark with their wings, “ shadowing the 
mercy seat,” bending as if looking down upon it, as interested 
spectators of the grace of God to men, through the atonement and 
sacrifice of the Saviour. —Rev. Richard Watson. 

When round thy Cherubs—smiling, calm, 

Without their flames—wreath the palm, 

0 God! we feel the emblem true— 

Thy mercy is eternal, too. 

Those Cherubs with their smiling eyes, 

That crown of palm which never dies, 

Are but the types of Thee above— 

Eternal Life, and Peace, and Love. 

— Thomas Moore. 

The cherubim with wings far stretched, again 
As Moses (so the Scriptures tell us plain) 

Ten contains to the sacred machine made, 

So in three parts of the world are said, 

To be no less than ten distinct decrees. 

And first of the supercelestial; these, 

TIP Angels, Archangels, and the Principates, 

Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Potentates, 

The Cherubim and Seraphim; then He 
(Above all the rest) the Supreme Deity. 

—Clayton’s Angelology. 


-72- 


GUARDIANS OF MANKIND. 


ffebruars \ 3 . 

And the Lord said unto Moses: Behold mine angel shall go before thee.—Exodus 32:24. 

N O DOUBT even angels have errands and tasks given to them 
which in themselves would he hard, but which become easy, 
a delight, because they are accepted as parts of the will of God 
for them. This is the great secret of joy in service. The angels 
fly swiftly on the errands on which they are sent, doing with equal 
alacrity the most stupendous thing and the smallest ministries. 
It is told in the Koran that Gabriel was sent earthward to save 
King Solomon from the sin of pride, and at the same time to help 
a toiling, weary yellow ant to get home to her people with her 
load of food. So it is even in heaven—the will of God is done 
always with joy. It consists in happy activities, in joyous serv¬ 
ices. It is this heavenly standard that is set for our earthly 
living. 

There is an old picture which represents a virgin, a faithful 
daughter who has fallen asleep at her wheel in her weariness, as 
she toils to fulfill her household duties—supporting a blind and 
widowed mother—and the angels have come and are softly finish¬ 
ing her task while she sleeps. Let the loving earth-toilers he 
faithful; let them do their best. What they cannot do, the angels 
will come and finish while they sleep. ^Night by night they will 
come and correct the day’s mistakes, and, if need be, do all the 
poor faulty work over again. Then at last, when the toilers sleep 
in death, dropping out of their hands the sacred work they have 
been doing for their children, again God’s angels will come, take 
up the unfinished work, and convey it on to completion. 

—J. K. Miller, D. D. 

A thousand liveried angels lackey her, 

Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt; 

And in clear dream and solemn vision 
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear, 

Till oft converse with heavenly habitants 
Begin to cast a beam on the outward shape. 

—Milton. 


- 73 - 


74 


MUCH OF HEAVEN IN THE ROOM. 


Her sleep-charged eyes exemption ask, 
And holy hands take up the task; 
Unseen the rock and spindle ply, 

And do her earthly drudgery. 

Sleep, saintly poor one, sleep, sleep on; 
And, waking, find thy labors done. 
Perchance she knows it by her dreams; 
Her eye hath caught the golden gleams, 
Angelic presence testifying, 

That round her everywhere are flying; 
Ostents from which she may presume 
That much of heaven is in the room. 


—Charles Lamb. 


MINISTRY OF BEAUTY. 


Jfebruarp 14. 

And the Lord said unto Moses: Depart and go hence, and I will send an angel before 
thee unto a land flowing with milk and honey.—Exodus 33:2. 

I T IS those dreaming mystics of the Middle Ages—men of God 
they were—that we mast credit with originating a systematic 
classification of the Orders of the Heavenly Host. These saints 
of the Mystic Ages were thrilled with glorious illusions; they 
believed that legions of ministering angels had charge over them; 
that the very meanest of them was a being upon whose slightest 
action the spirits of light and beauty watched with loving inter¬ 
est ; that in the soul’s regnant moments they could hear the lyres 
of the heavenly harpers, and catch glimpses of the beatific vision; 
that in the stillness of the night they could hear the flutter of 
angel-wings—the beneficent Angel of Death stooping to kiss away 
the struggling breath coming for their release and convoy. 

“Hark, they whisper, angels say 
Sister spirit come away .' 9 

Angels! These King-becoming messengers; these couriers of 
the Most High; these Elysian folk; these bending worshipers 
of beauty; these incarnate innocencies are “sent” upon embassies 
of love to us, the lost and erring children of the Father. ‘ ‘ I will 
send an angel before thee, ’ 9 is the gracious and assuring promise. 
Never, never shall we be guilty of honoring the messengers above 
the message radiant and ethereal though they be and are worthy 
of our highest admiration and esteem. Always and everywhere 
must we render to God alone the adoration that shall garland Him 
with love. A long way have the angels come. Every beating of 
every pulse; every inspiration of every breath; every quiver of 
every wing; every throbbing of every heart are but eloquent 
reminders of the greatness of their message and the joy of their 
love. When we need them the most they are the most with us ; 
when the wind is the coldest their touch is the warmest; when we 
feel oppressed with the sense of our lostness, they whisper mes¬ 
sages by which we recover our strength and recall our hope; when 

-75- 


76 


IS THERE CARE IN HEAVEN ? 


the outlook is shut in with blinding snow they soothe and nerve us 
with an infinite comfort. These gracious and lovely presences are 
daily “sent” to the toilers in life’s garden, to make them feel that 
although they have gone very far astray they are still dear to God 
through Jesus Christ our Lord and their Lord. 

What a blessed thing it would be if people of to-day held 
happy intercourse with angels, as they did who lived in the 
halcyon times, the childhood of the race! Of that sweet babyhood 
epoch of the human family, when “Rejoicing men and angels 
met , 9 9 the great poets have sung in sweetest strains. 

—Alfred Fowler. 

And is there care in heaven? and is there love 
In heavenly spirits to these creatures base, 

That may compassion of their evils move? 

There is; else much more wretched were the case 
Of men than beasts. But oh! the exceeding grace 
Of highest God! that loves His creatures so, 

And all His works with mercy doth embrace, 

That blessed angels He sends to and fro, 

To serve to wicked men, to serve His wicked foe! 

How oft do they their silver bowers leave, 

And come to succor us that succor want; 

How oft do they with golden pinions cleave 
The filtering skies like flying pursuivant! 

Against foul fiends to aid us militant, 

They for us fight, they watch and duly ward, 

And their bright squadrons round about us plant, 

And all for love and nothing for reward! 

Oh, why should heavenly God to men have such regard? 

—Edmund Spenser. 


CONCENTRATION OF ALL SIMPLICITY. 

jfebruarg 15. 

And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, 
then he heard the voice of one speaking to him from oif the mercy seat that was over 
the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim.—Numbers 7:89. 

T HE cherubim never occur alone—always in connection with 
God. Two things to remember—first, that the living crea¬ 
ture as it is represented by the cherubim forms a distinct depart¬ 
ment of terrestrial creation; and next, that exactly in this depart¬ 
ment the creative power of God displays itself most gloriously; 
that of it in a special manner the word of the apostle holds good, 
“The invisible things of God, His eternal power and Godhead, 
we see and know in His works. ’ ’ By the cherubim we mean the 
ideal combination of the multiplicity of living things. The cherubs 
represent the living creatures on earth, and in general the terres¬ 
trial creation. The cherubim are the ideal concentration of the 
animal kingdom. In regard to the name cherubim, men have 
given way to manifold conjectures ; and the end has been, that 
they have despaired of any interpretation. The cause of this 
despair lies in the incorrect definition of the nature of the cheru¬ 
bim. As soon as we recognize in the cherub the ideal unity of the 
animal creation, the interpretation follows of itself. It means 
“as a multitude”—the concentration of all multiplicity on earth 
into a unity. The designation, 1 ‘ the living , 9 9 takes the place of a 
second proper name of the cherubim. 

—E. W. Hengstenberg, D. D. 

Yet far more fair be those bright cherubim 
Which all with golden wings are over dight, 

And those eternal seraphim, 

Which from their brows dart out fierce light. 

—Spenser. 

Onward—ever onward pressing, 

Yet untired as an angel’s wing. 

—Anonymous. 

And from my soul, which fruits the future so, 

With unabashed and unabated gaze, 

Teach me to hope for, what the angels know 
When they smile cleaves as thou dost. 

Such cheer I gather from thy smiling, sweet! 

The self-same Cherub faces which emboss 
The veil, lean inward to thy Mercy-Seat. 

—Elizabeth Barret Browning, 

— 77 — 


ANGEL VOICES SWEETLY SWELLING. 


jFebruars 10. 

And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath 
brought us forth out of Lgypt.—Numbers 20:16. 

I N THE ecclesiastical history of Socrates, there is mention made 
of one Theodoras, a martyr put to extreme torments by Julian 
the Apostate. Ruffinus, in his history, saith that he met with this 
martyr a long time after his trial, and asked him whether the 
pains he felt were not insufferable. He answered, that at first it 
was somewhat grievous; but after a while there seemed to stand 
by him a young man in white, who with a soft handkerchief wiped 
off the sweat from his body (which through extreme anguish was 
little less than blood), and bade him be of good cheer, insomuch 
that it was rather a punishment than a pleasure to him to be 
taken off the rack: when the tormentors had done, the angel was 
gone. Thus it is that the blessed angels of God have ministered 
from time to time to His people, in the days of their distress. 
They pity our human frailties and secretly suggest comfort, when 
we perceive it not; they are as ready to help us as the bad angels 
are to tempt us. Always they stand looking on the face of God to 
receive orders, which they no sooner have than they readily 
despatch. —Spenser. 


With fragrant odors on the air, 

Which zephyrs to my windows bear, 

There comes to me a sweet refrain, 

Seeming from oft yon dewy plain! 

Angel voices sweetly swelling, 

Wafting by the arbor, telling: 

11 Above we sympathize with thee, 

0 man! in thy deep misery. 

And here in heaven we ever pray 
For thee, a being far astray, 

Whom hope now lights.” 

— Thomas Brower Peacock. 


— 78 — 


PREVENTING ANGELS. 


jfebruarB 17. 

And the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. 

—Numbers 22:22. 

T HE angels would have a certain stand-offishness just where 
we should have a certain stand-inishness. We can go to 
sinners and say: “My brother, flee, for I know what it is to be a 
sinner, and I know what the safety is. ’’ The angels could not say 
that. I read nowhere in the Bible of angels shedding tears; we 
could shed tears. 

Tears of such pure, such deep delight, 

Ye angels, never dimmed your sight. 

Lay hold of some sinner, grasp him by the hand and put the 
other on his shoulder and tell him what an angel could not tell 
him. That is why the angel is not here. Be you his angel, his 
minister of grace. Tell him what Christ has done for you, with 
an urgency 7 and eagerness that no angel can command. Thank 
God we have a greater through grace, that we are greater in 
urgency than any angel or archangel would he. 

—Rev. John McNeill. 

Blest tears of soul-felt penitence; 
******* 

But well the enraptured Peri knew 
’Twas a bright smile the angel threw 
From heaven’s gate, to hail that tear 
Her harbinger of glory near! 

—Thomas Moore. 

How angels gazed and wondered at the sight! 

Had angels cause of wonder? Man has more; 

Yes, dearest Lord, I wonder, love, adore! 

—Anne Steele. 


- 79 - 


GIRT WITH GOLDEN WINGS. 


jfebruars 18 . 

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord, standing in the way, and his sword drawn in 
his hand. And the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards.—Numbers 22:24. 

T HE interest felt by the angels in all that concerns the Gospel 
and the eternal interests of men put on their probation forms 
a very humbling contrast to our cold indifference in what con¬ 
cerns us much more nearly than them. Alas! with the hosts of 
heaven there is all sympathy and intense interest—with men, all 
apathy and madness. —Adams. 

In ordinary language we comprise all these beings under the 
name of angels, but we know not wherein consists their higher 
nature, nor do w^e know the number of grades which there may 
be between the least perfect angel who is nearest akin to the most 
perfect man, and the most glorious of created beings, who enjoy 
unutterable bliss, feeling themselves in close proximity to God. 

-H. Shakke, D. D. 


No sun or star so bright 
In all the world of light, 

That they should draw to heaven his downward eye; 

He hears the Almighty’s word, 

He sees the Angel’s sword, 

Yet low upon the earth his heart and treasure lie. 

—John Keble. 


Visions come and go, 

Shapes of resplendent beauty round us throng; 

From angel lips I seem to hear the flow 
Of soft and holy song. 

—Miss E. Loyd. 


80 - 



THE GUARDIAN ANGEE 

(See page 75) 


Schroder 





Landelle 

ANGEL OF TEARS 

(See pages 79, 85 and 326) 























KINGLY IN COMMANDING GRACE, 

jfebruarg 19. 

And when the ass saw the Angel of the Lord, she thrust herself into the wall, and 
crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall, and the Angel of the Lord went further. 

—Numbers 22:25, 26. 

I N THE apocryphal Book of Maccabees it is related that Helio- 
dorus resolved to invade the temple of Jehovah, and plunder 
its treasury. On proceeding to execute his impious purpose, there 
appeared to him a horse with a terrible rider upon him, and 
adorned with a very fair covering, and he ran fiercely and smote 
at Heliodorus with his fore-feet, and it seemed that he that sat 
upon the horse had complete harness of gold. Moreover, two 
other young men appeared before him, notable in strength, excel¬ 
lent in beauty, and comely in apparel, who stood by him on either 
side. 


But who is he in panoply of gold, 

Throned on that burning charger? bright his form 
Yet in its brightness awful to behold, 

And girt with all the terrors of the storm; 

Lightning is on his helmet ’s crest, and fear 
Shrinks from the splendor of his brow severe. 

And by his side two radiant warriors stand, 

All armed and kingly in commanding grace— 

Oh, more than kingly!—godlike! sternly grand I 
Their port indignant, and each dazzling face 
Beams with the beauty to immortals given, 

Magnificent in all the wrath of heaven. 

—Hesiod. 

Within the air astir—like wings 
Of angels in their minis things. 

—Tom Hood. 


-81- 


ALL OUR STEPS ATTEND. 


jFebruaqj 20 . 

And where the ass saw the Angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam, and he 
saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way.—Numbers 22:27. 

T HE Koran, that curious intermixture of Pantheism, Judaism 
and Christianity, commands an implicit faith in the ministry 
of angels; it is interfused through the whole of its teachings. The 
Koran holds that the angels are endowed with pure and subtle 
bodies, composed of ethereal fire; that they are of a diversity of 
forms and devoted to divers offices. Some are employed in ador¬ 
ing Allah, in various postures; others, in chanting his praises; 
and others in offering up intercessions for mankind. Not a few 
are occupied as recording angels, carefully noting down every 
thought, and word, and action, of each probationer of time; and 
upon some of the most highly favored and noble devolve the 
transcendent honor of bearing the august throne of the Deity. 
Mohamed further taught that, among the hosts of spiritual beings 
there are four mighty tetrarch, angels who are pre-eminently 
distinguished by the favor of the Supreme, and who by virtue 
of the supposititious offices assigned them, are to be held in ex¬ 
treme veneration. The first of these celestial potentates is Gabriel, 
on whom, among other lofty titles, is conferred that of the holy 
spirit, and the angel of revelations , he being believed to be the 
prime minister of heaven, and the one to whom is committed the 
writing of divine decrees. Next in order comes Michael, the 
friend and protector of the Jews; then Azrael (or Raphael), the 
angel of death, who dissolves the union of soul and body; and, 
lastly, Israfil (or Uriel), who has the most melodious voice of all 
God’s creatures, and is the Angel of Resurrection, his principal 
office being to sound the trumpet at the last day. The offices of 
the four chief angels are described in almost similar language in 
the apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas. Therein is stated that Gabriel 
reveals the secrets of God; Michael fights and vanquishes his 
enemies; Raphael receives the deporting spirits of mortals; and 
Uriel is to summon every soul to judgment in the day of account. 
The Mohammedans believe that, to every child born into the 
world there are allotted attendant guardian angels, one stationed 

- 82 - 


PERFORMING PRAISEWORTHY DEEDS. 


83 


on the right hand, to note down on a tablet his good deeds, and 
another on the left, to record his evil and that they are changed 
every day, and therefrom entitled A1 Moakkibat, or, the angels 
who continually succeed one another. The one who notes down 
a good man’s actions has command over him who notes the evil 
ones; and, when a person performing a praiseworthy deed, the 
angel on the right hand writes it down ten times; and when he 
commits an evil one, the kind angel says to the angel on the left: 
“Forbear setting it down for seven hours; peradventure he may 
pray, or may ask pardon!” The angel to whom is committed the 
final summing up of human actions is named A1 Sifil. The entire 
theory concerning the existence and ministry of angels, Mo¬ 
hammed borrowed from the Hebrews. 

—Edward I. Sears, A. M. 


Angels our servants are, 

And keep in all our ways, 

And in their hands they bear 
The sacred sons of grace; 

Our guardians to that heavenly bliss, 

They all our steps attend. 

—Wesley. 

The angel’s eyes, whom veils cannot deceive, 

Might best disclose what best they do discern. 
******* 

God present is at once in every place; 

Yet God in every place is always one. 

So may there be, by gifts of ghostly grace, 

One man in many rooms, yet filling none, 

Sith angels may effects of body show, 

God’s angels gifts on bodies may bestow. 

—Robert Southwell. 


HEAVENLY HABITANTS. 


Ifebruars 21 . 

And he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way. . . . And the Angel of the 
Lord said unto him: Wherefore I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse 
before me.—Numbers 22:32. 

M OREOVER, the angels are servants of the same God and 
members of the same society to which we belong. They 
are the inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem, of which we are 
heirs; they have possession and we have the title, and shall in time 
possess it. We are called to much the same employment with 
them and glorify him by obedience, thanks, and praise, and so 
do they; therefore they are ministers for our good, and rejoice in 
the success of our labors, as ministers of Christ on earth do. 
There is not a sinner converted but is the angels’ joy, which show- 
eth how much they attend to their work. They are especially 
present and attendant on us in our holy assembling and services 
of God, and therefore we are admonished (I. Cor. 11:10; Eccles., 
5:G) to reverence their presence and do nothing before them 
that is sinful or unseemly. The presence of God and the Lord 
Jesus Christ and the elect angels must continually awe us into 
exact obedience. With the church they pry into the mystery of 
the dispensation of the Spirit to the church. In conclusion Christ 
telleth us that in our state of blessedness we shall be ‘ ‘ equal unto 
the angels , 9 9 and so shall live with them forever. 

—Richard Baxter. 

Are ye forever to your skies departed? 

'Will ye visit eartli no more? 

Ye, whose wings in splendor darted 
Eden’s groves in days of yore ? 

No! ye have not man forsaken, 

Though from God he’s gone astray! 

Ye have heaven’s message taken, 

Which imparts eternal day. 

—Roswell Rice, 


- 84 - 


TEARS OF ANGELS. 


Jfebruar^ 22. 

And Balaam said unto the Angel of the Lord: I have sinned; and the Angel of the 
Lord said unto Balaam: Go with the men,—Numbers 22:34. 

B ALAAM offers to go back. The angel says: “ Go on! He says 
to us to go on.” — F. W. Eobertson, D. D. 

“Now,” says the old legend, “if it be asked wherefore the 
books of Moses, in revealing the disobedience and the fall of man, 
are silent as to the revolt and fall of the angels, the reason is plain; 
and in this God acted according to his wisdom. For let ns sup¬ 
pose that a certain powerful lord hath two vassals, both guilty 
of the crime of treason, and one of these is a nobleman of pure 
and lofty lineage, and the other a base-born churl, what doth this 
lord? He hangs up the churl in the market-place as a warning 
and an example to others; but for the nobleman, fearing the scan¬ 
dal that may arise among the people, the judge causes him to be 
tried secretly, and shuts him up in a dungeon; and, when judg¬ 
ment is pronounced against him, sends him to prison, and puts 
him privately to death; and when one asketh after him, the an¬ 
swer is only, 16 He is dead, ’’ and nothing more. Thus did God in 
respect to the rebel angels of old; and their fate was not revealed 
until the redemption of man was accomplished. —Foster. 

Mortals! if angels grief might know, 

From angels if a tear might flow, 

For 3 7 ou celestial woes might rise, 

And pity dim a seraph’s eyes. 

—Mrs. Hemans. 

Yet on man they joy to wait, 

All that bright celestial state. 

—Anonymous. 


i 


85- 


FLIGHTS OF ANGELS. 


jfebruars 23 


And he said: The Lord came from Sinai; he shineth forth from Mount Paran, and he 
came with ten thousand of his angels.—Deuteronomy 33:2. 


MULTITUDE of angels was upon Mount Sinai, in the midst 



of the grand and sublime accompaniments of the giving 
of the law. Although not directly referred to by the historian, 
their presence on that occasion is referred to by the psalmist sub¬ 
limely, when he exclaims: 4 4 The chariots of God are twenty thou¬ 
sand, even many thousands of angels; the Lord is among them as 
in Sinai, the holy place.” Saint Stephen also refers to the pres¬ 
ence of angels on that wonderful occasion. —Dunn. 

Thousands on thousands ministered to Him, and ten hundred 
times a hundred thousand assisted before His throne. 

—Daniel, 7:10. 


Whether is there a limit to the number of his soldiers. 

-Job, 25: 3. 


Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep. 


—Milton. 


Did viewless seraphs nestle all around, 
Making sweet music out of air so sweet ? 


— Hartly Coleridge. 


Thy finer sense perceives 


Celestial and perpetual harmonies! 

Thy purer soul, that trembles and believes, 
Hears the archangel’s trumpet in the breeze, 
And where the forest rolls, or ocean heaves, 
Cecilia’s organ sounding in the seas, 

And tongues of prophets speaking in the leaves. 


—Longfellow. 


-86- 


THE NATURE OF ANGELS. 


jfebruacg 24, 


And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, and behold, there stood an angel over 
against him with his sword drawn in his hand.—Joshua 5:13. 


NGELS, a word signifying in both Hebrew and Greek mes- 



sengers, and therefore used to denote whatever God em¬ 
ploys to execute his purpose, or to manifest his presence or his 
power. In some passages it occurs in the sense of an ordinary 
messenger; but this name is more eminently and distinctively 
applied to certain spiritual beings or heavenly intelligences em¬ 
ployed by God as the ministers of his will, and usually distin¬ 
guished as the angels of God or angels of Jehovah. In this case 
the name has respect to their official capacity as * ‘ messengers, ’ ’ 
and not to their nature or condition. The term “spirit,’’ on the 
other hand, has reference to the nature of angels, and character¬ 
izes them as incorporeal and invisible essences. The modern 
idea of spirit was unknown to the ancients. When, therefore, the 
ancient Jews called angels spirits, they did not mean to deny that 
they were endowed with bodies. When they affirmed that angels 
were incorporeal, they used the term in the sense as free from 
impurities of gross matter. We may assume that angels are spir¬ 
itual bodies, rather than pure spirits in the modern acceptation of 
the word. — Kitto. 


Music! a blessed angel. She was born 
Within the palace of the King of Kings 
A favorite near His throne. 


—Anonymous. 


When Joshua led the tribes o’er Jordan’s flood. 
The captains of God’s host before him stood; 
He fell, and own’d, adoring on his face, 

A power whose presence sanctified the place. 


—Montgomery. 


-87- 


MICHAEL. THE HEAVENLY CONQUEROR. 


tfebruarg 25. 

And Joshua went unto the angel and said: Art thou for us or for our adversaries? 
And the angel said: Nay, hut as the Captain of the Host of the Lord am I come. 

—Joshua 5:13, 14. 

A RCHANGEL—or *‘High-angel.’’ The specification of this 
title is nowhere to he found in the Old Testament, and only 
mentioned twice in the New, being applied only to one personage, 
under the name of Michael. In St. Jude, where it is mentioned, 
Michael is represented as contending with the arch-fiend respect¬ 
ing the discovery of the body of Moses. 4 ‘ From this passage we 
may collect, ’ ’ says Dr. Hales, ‘ ‘ that he was buried by the ministry 
of angels near the scene of the idolatry of the Israelites. ’ ’ Bishop 
Hall also states: ‘ ‘ The same God, that by the hands of his angels 
carried up the soul of Moses to his glory, doth also by the hands 
of his angels, convey his body down into the valley of Moab, to 
his sepulture.’’ Michael seems to be invested with a rank and 
power in the armies of heaven, to which that of Satan seems to 
correspond amongst the infernal crew of fallen angels. Of the 
burial of Moses by gracious angel hands, the poet has sung: 

“And had he not high honor, 

The hillside for his pall, 

To lie in state while angels wait, 

With stars for tapers tall. ’ 1 

Various opinions have been given as to the dispute respecting 
the body of Moses in the martial contest between Michael and 
Satan. It seems most reasonable to conclude that Moses was bur¬ 
ied by the ministration of angels, Deut., 34: 6, and the spot con¬ 
cealed, lest his remains should be made the object of idolatrous 
worship. Moreover, that Moses was not buried by the Jews, we 
learn from Scripture, which saith, “No man knoweth of his 
sepulchre unto this day,” and therefore Philo saith, he was buried 
not by men but by angels. 

The other instance in which it occurs is recorded in I. Thessa- 
lonians, 4:16, where the term archangel is used in reference to 
the second advent of our Savior at the last day, coming in his 

— 88 — 


CALLETH THE STARS BY NAME. 


89 


glory, and attended by the resplendent retinue of heaven. Some 
of the ancient writers hold the singular conceit, that the ranks over 
which Michael presides, is the eighth of the celestial orders, affirm¬ 
ing that Paul mentioned only a part of fhe heavenly choir, there 
being more of which he had not spoken. Others have imagined 
that the destruction of the title bears some allusion to the customs 
of oriental order observed in the courts of earthly kings. Michael, 
the archangel, tells Daniel that he is one of the chief princes in 
the court of the Almighty. From the passages in the Bible which 
contain the name of Michael, he then appears and is pointed out 
to our view as an angel of peculiar dignity and transcendent glory 
in the court of the Most High. Gabriel and Michael are the only 
proper names of angels recorded in the Holy Scriptures; and it 
has been argued from this circumstance, that all the multitudes of 
the angelic hosts have their appropriate distinctive appellations; 
and though to our finite comprehension such a conjecture presents 
an extreme difficulty, yet, the God ‘ ‘ who telleth the stars and 
calleth them all by their names, and whose understanding is in¬ 
finite,” may have the name of each particular angel registered 
in the apocalyptic book of immortality. 

—Clayton’s Angelology. 

Nor shall we see heroic men alone, 

Champions who fought the fight of faith on earth; 

But heavenly conquerors, angelic hosts, 

Michael and the bright legions, who subdued 
The foes of Truth! To join their blest employ 
Of love and praise! To the high melodies 
Of choirs celestial to attune my voice, 

Accordant to the golden harps of saints! 

To join in blest hosannas to their King! 


—Hannah More, 


AERIAL SPIRITS. 


g ebvuars 26 . 


And the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim and said: I will never 
break my covenant with you.—Judges 2:1. 

A ND then there is their ministry as to individuals. We know 
not how they minister; yet it is a delightful thought, that 
we may be, personally, the subjects of angels’ care. We ought 
always to recollect, indeed, that it is our first and most glorious 
privilege to be under the influences of God the Spirit; and 
yet we may occasionally make use of angelic as well as human 
agency, to accomplish his purposes of grace. There may be some¬ 
thing in what Bishop Ken says: 

“Let thy bless’d angels, while I sleep, 

Around my bed their vigils keep.” 

God himself is the friend of those who are reconciled to him 
through Jesus Christ; and all his agents, whether angels or men, 
are ministers to do them good. —Rev. Richard Watson. 

Age by age 

Earth yielded hither her choicest and her best, 

And here the angels on their ministries 
Passed ever to and fro. 

—Bickersteth. 


And now to me the smallest bird that flies 
Twitters a song which seraphim might sing; 

While roadside flowers a sacred message bring, 

And teach those truths that make the angels wise. 

—E. Thorneycroft Fowler. 


-90 


VIEWLESS SERAPHS NESTLE ROUND. 


jFebruarg 27. 

When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words unto all the children of Israel, that the 
people lifted up their voice and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim. 

—Judges 2:4. 

W HAT is the work of angels? In answering this question we 
must treat the two classes separately, remembering that in 
either case, some of their functions terminate upon God, and others 
upon man. In exercising our Godward functions, the good angels 
are represented as being in the presence of God, worshiping Him 
in company with the redeemed. They praise His name, exalt His 
glory, magnify His power and majesty, and rejoice over His 
works. They are attendant upon God, and as messengers do His 
will and fulfill His biddings. They work ordinarily along the 
line of Providence, subject, of course, to God’s ordained and usual 
agencies and instrumentalities; hut there is one passage, Psalms, 
104: 4: 4 4 Who maketh His angels wings, His ministers a flaming 
fire,” that teaches their activity in and through nature. If we 
accept this interpretation—and I think we must, for spirit has 
power over matter as well as mind—we must regard the exercise 
of this function as occasional rather than usual, and believe that 
it does not entail the violation or suspension of the laws of nature. 
It must he put within that circle of freedom which we describe 
about second causes as a centre. We have fuller data upon which 
to base our judgment as to their earthward functions. What shall 
we do with such passages as these? Psalm, 91:11, 4 ‘For he shall 
give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.” 
Luke, 16: 22, 4 4 And it came to pass that the beggar died and was 
carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” Hebrews, 
1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister 
for them who shall be the heirs to salvation?” Psalm, 34:7, 
“The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear 
Him and delivereth them.” Putting these together, I can reach 
no other conclusion than that they are especially interested in be¬ 
lievers, and are constantly seeking their good. They influence, 
help, guide, watch over, defend and minister unto them. You say 
this is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is wholly distinct from 

-91- 


92 


TUNE YOUR HARPS TO HIS PRAISE. 


that He works chiefly from within; they altogether from without. 
He attends primarily to the spiritual; they attend to the temporal. 
He works immediately; they always and only mediately. We 
have proof of this in Christ’s life. The spirit led, taught and 
filled Christ (Luke, 6:1), hut the angels defended, strengthened 
and ministered unto (i. e. fed) Him, Matt., 6: 6. 

—Rev. John Balcom Shaw, D. H. 

Ye angels who stand around the throne, 

And view my Immanuel ’s face, 

In rapturous singing make Him known, 

Tune, tune your soft harps to His praise; 

He formed you the spirits that you are, 

So happy, so noble, so good; 

When others sunk down in despair, 

Coniirmedly by His power ye stood. 

—Maria De Fleury. 


BIRDS OF GOD. 


Jfebruarg 28, 


Curse ye Meroy, said the Angel of the Lord; because they came not xo the help of the 
Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.—Judges 5:23. 


WRITER of wonderful research (Huet) proves that belief 



iV in the existence of angels is found among all peoples and in 
all lands; that the Greeks received this belief from the Egyptians 
and Phoenicians; and that all antiquity has recognized the exist¬ 
ence of spiritual beings inferior to God, and created to preside 
over the order of nature—the stars, the elements, the generation 
of animals. The world, according to Thales and Pythagoras, is 
full of these spiritual beings. They believed that the angels boated 
in the sky and in the air. Plato, according to Plutarch, speaks 
of a prince of an evil nature, who is over the spirits that were 
chased by the gods and fell from heaven. The belief in angel- 
guardians, or good spirits, destined to protect and watch over man 
from his cradle to his grave, was no less ancient and widespread. 


—Dr. Parker. 


Yet, by your shining eyes not all forsaken, 

Man wandered from his Paradise away; 

Ye, from forgetfulness his heart to waken, 
Came down, high guests, in many a later day, 
An d with the Patriarchs, under vine or oak, 
Midst noontide calm or hush of evening spoke. 


—Mrs. Hemans. 


When we wake, or when we sleep, 
Angel guards their vigils keep; 
Death and danger may be near, 
Faith and love have naught to fear. 


—Harriet Auber. 


-93- 


CROWD OF LOVELY FORMS. 


jfebruarg 29 


And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophra, that 
pertained unto Joash, and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press to hide it 
from the Midiamites.—Judges 6:11. 



HERE lias been a great deal of curious speculation concerning 


1 the relation of angels to worldly affairs. Some think that 
the angels dwell in the immediate presence of God, and sing his 
praise; and that during the intervals of song they fly from star to 
star to refresh and regale their minds with the glories of the sky. 
Others think that the angels bear a distinct relation to man, that 
they influence all his affairs, and that every one has his guardian 
angel who watches over him and to a certain extent protects 
him. The truth respecting angels probably lies in the golden 
mean half way between these two opinions. The angels are doubt¬ 
less charged with ministering to man, and they are interested in 
all of his affairs. They, like man, are the offspring of God, and, 
therefore, they have a fellow-feeling for men, and wish to inquire 
into their affairs. —Bishop Cyrus Foss, D. D. 


One noon I met an angel by the way, 

And giving the hand of welcome, bade him stay 
Beneath my roof and rest. 


* * * “ Angel, be my guest, 


Sit thou in quietude and take thy rest. 

My name is— ” “Nay,” the gracious angel said, 
“Thy name is known in heaven;” and then he fled 
Swift as the light across the ample sea, 

But left an angel at my heart with me. 


—Rev. William A. Quale. 


Wherefore, ere virtue o’er the tomb hath wept, 
Angels shall lead thee to the throne above. 


—Coleridge. 


-94- 


BOOK III. 


flfcatxb. 








GUARDIAN ANGEL 

(See page 99) 


Murillo 














ANGEL OF PURITY 


Faudelle 


(See page 79) 







fIDarcb 


THE INEFFABLE ANGELS. 


/iDarcb 1. 


And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said: The Lord is with thee, thou 
mighty man of valour.—Judges 6:12. 


HEY were the faces of angels which Angelico saw in his holy 



1 visions, and w^hicli—regarding them as revelations—he never 
would retouch when once they had been sketched in. Mr. Rusldn 
describes “the angel-choirs of Angelico, with the flames on their 
white foreheads, waving brighter as they move, and the sparkles 
streaming from their purple wings, like the glitter of many suns 
upon a sounding sea, listening, in the pauses of alternate song, 
for the prolonging of the trumpet-blast and the answering of 
psaltry and cymbal, from all the star shores of heaven/’ The 
cloister walk of Florence was to Angelico “no penitential soli¬ 
tude, hut a possessed land of tender blessing, guarded from the 
entrance of all but holiest sorrow.” The little cell was one of 
the houses of heaven prepared for him by his Master. Was He 
not always with him? Under every cypress avenue the angels 
walked. He had seen their white robes, whiter than the dawn, 
at his bedside, as he awoke in early summer. They had sung with 
him, one on each side, when his voice failed for joy at sweet vesper 
and matin time; his eyes were blinded by their wings in the sun¬ 
set, when it sank behind the hills of Luni. —Farrar. 


The simple monk worked out his own ideal— 

And were there ever forms more heavenly fair? 

Nay! from the life the ineffable angels there 
Seem limned and colored by their servant leal. 
What was the charm? Whence the inflowing grace? 
The beauty of holiness! His child-soul dreamed 


— 97 — 



98 


THE INBREAK OF ANGELS. 


Where psalm and censer filled the holy place, 

Till to take place the mist the music seemed. 

—Anonymous. 

And Angelico 

The artist-saint kept smiling in his cell 
The smile with which he welcomed the sweet, slow 
Inbreak of angels (whitening through the dim 
That he might paint them). 

—Elizabeth Barret Browning. 

What glimpse of heaven holdst thou, 0 artist saint ? 

What harmonies sublime fell on thy soul, 

What secret raptures o’er thy spirit stole 
And purified thee from all earthly taint? 

Did not the heavens ope, the world grow faint, 

And all the spheres before thy vision roll, 

Till then beheldst the ransomed pure and whole, 

And with their sons celestial were acquaint? 

Surely thou troddest where the angels tread, 

And heard the echoes of God’s sacred aisle, 

Ere thou couldst paint the radiance round each head, 

The faces beaming with celestial smile, 

The angel-forms, by which our hearts are led 
To that far home they have but left erewhile. 

—Norley Chester. 


ANGEL LIKE HE SINGS. 

/IDarcb 2. 

And the Angel of God said unto him: Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay 
them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.—Judges 6:20. 

M AN ought to show to his guardian angel (1) Reverence for 
his presence, hv doing nothing in his presence which, were 
the angel visible to his mortal eye, he would not dare to do. (2) 
Devotion and affection for the angel’s benevolence. The angel is to 
he beloved, because presently he loves us more than parent or 
friend, and guides towards heaven with a love that is inferior only 
to that of Jesus Christ who died for us. (3) Unbounded confi¬ 
dence in his protection. We can have no fear when such a guide 
is by. He cannot be seduced. He cannot he overcome. The an¬ 
gels are powerful, they are prudent, they are faithful. Why, then, 
do we fear! Only let us cling to them, and we will ever remain 
in God’s protection. All their devotion to us, and all our indebted¬ 
ness to them, is sweetly told in that little hymn which we were 
taught when children, and which we, in our turn, ought never to 
fail to teach to little children: 

Dear angel, ever at my side, 

How loving must thou be, 

To leave thy home in heaven to guide 
An erring child like me! 

—St. Bernard. 

Because I feel that in the heavens above, 

The angels, whispering to one another, 

Can find, among their burning terms of love, 

None so devotional as that of 1 1 Mother, ’ * 

Therefore by that dear name I long have called you. 

—Edgar Allan Poe. 

Since I am coming to that holy room 
Where, with Thy choir of angels, for evermore 
I shall be made Thy music, as I come 
I time my instrument here at the door, 

And what I must do Thee, think here before. 

—Rev. Dr. Donne. 

-99- 


L.ofC. 


ANGEL-GUARDIANS. 


flDarcb 3. 

Then the Angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and 
touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and there rose up fire out of the rock, and 
consumed the offering. Then the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.—Judges 6:21. 

T HE guardian angel of life sometimes flies so high that man 
cannot see it; but he always is looking down upon us, and will 
soon hover nearer to us. —Richter. 

The idea of guardian angels is taken from the fact that they 
guarded and defended our Savior; hence, too, they are employed 
to defend the members of His mystical body. These are as dear 
to Christ as the apple of His own eye, and the motive that lie pre¬ 
sents for not harming even the least one of these, is because their 
angels continually behold the face of their Father in heaven. 

—Rev. Moses Kieffer, D. D. 

You will always find that, in proportion to the earnestness of 
our own faith, its tendency to accept a spiritual personality in¬ 
creases ; and that the most vital and beautiful Christian temper 
rests joyfully in its conviction of the multitudinous ministry of 
living angels, infinitely varied in rank and power. 

—John Ruskin. 

There is a third function ascribed to these angelic natures, 
which brings them even nearer to our sympathies; they are the 
deputed guardians of the just and innocent. St. Raphael is the 
prince of the guardian angels. The Jew’s held that the angels de¬ 
puted to Lot were his guardian angels. The Fathers of the Chris¬ 
tian Church taught that every human being, from the hour of his 
birth to that of his death, is accompanied by an angel appointed 
to watch over him. The Mohommedans give to each of us a good 
and evil angel; but the early Christians supposed us to be attended 
each by a good angel only, who undertakes that office, not merely 
from duty to God, and out of obedience and great humility, but as 
inspired by exceeding charity and love towards his human charge. 

—Mrs. Jameson, 

-100- 


FIRST PRAYER OF A LITTLE CHILD. 


iul 


Angels dear 

Bear her perfect soul above, 

Seraph of the skies 1 sweet lqve. 

—Bryan Waller Procter. 

I was in heaven one day when all the prayers 
Came in, and angels bore them up the stairs 
Unto a place where he 
Who has ordained such ministry, 

Should sort them so that in that palace bright 

The presence-chamber might be duly dight; 

For they were like to tlowers of various bloom; 

And a divinest fragrance filled the room. 

Then did I see how the great sorter chose, 

One flower that seemed to me a hedgling rose, 

And from the tangled press 
Of that irregular loveliness, 

Set it apart—and—“This,” I heard him say, 

1 ‘ Is for the Master; ’ ’ so upon his way 
He would have passed; then I to him: 

“Whence is the rose? 0 thou of cherubim 

The chiefest?” “Knowest thou not?” he said and smiled, 

“This is the first prayer of a little child.” 

— T. E. Brown. 


ANGELS LONG TO SEE. 


floarcb 4. 

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, he said: Alas, 0 Lord! 
for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.—Judges 6:22. 

A ND surely we shall find in the angelical system such heights 
and depths, as will raise our admiration of that God, whose 
fiat created the various worlds he has made, and the beautiful ad¬ 
ministrations he has chosen and ordained. No wonder we meet with 
inscrutable mysteries connected with the nature and order, laws 
and ministry of those incorporeal attendants that surround and 
applaud the Throne. Our inquisitive minds are apt to wonder 
that a door or casement is not opened for our clearer prospects 
into the celestial world, toward which we are called to travel. 
We admire, when these natives of heaven appeared, so often, in 
the primitive world, and came sometimes—one would think upon 
lower offices and services; that when so many inspired messengers 
came from God; yea, that when the Lord Himself came from 
heaven, to teach us how to get there, they would none of them 
tell us more of the world from whence they came, or to which 
they would invite us; and that they no more particularly describe 
the state, the inhabitants, employments, and felicities that are 
there. But they came not, it seems, to gratify our curiosity, but 
to direct us safely thither. An early thirst of undue knowledge 
soon ruined our race in the head of it, and it is not now to be 
indulged. Our greatest business and felicity are not to return to 
angels,—though they will be exceeding good company,—but to 
Him that made—and can make blessed both them and us; and 
therefore the most the Lord of heaven tells us of them—though 
he knew their essence, their regimen and offices so well—is, that 
they are glad when anyone of us is redeemed to repentance, and 
reconciled to God; and therefore set in a fair way to their world, 
their enjoyments, and society. There we shall know them as much 
as we shall desire. In the meantime we are to walk by faith and 
hope in that light that has been afforded us. 

—Mr. John Reynolds. 

The angels come, the angels go 
Through open doors of purer air; 

- 102 - 


103 





IN EVERY WIND I FELT THE STIR. 

Their moving presence ofttimes here 
It thrills us everywhere. 

—Poems of Heaven and Home. 

In youth beside the lonely sea, 

Voices and visions came to me. 

In every wind I felt the stir 
Of some celestial messenger. 

Full dark shall be the days in store. 

When voice and vision come no more. 


-T. B. Aldrich. 










AN ANGEL CHANTING. 


/iDavcb 5. 


And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto the wife of Manoah.—Judges 13:3. 

HERE were exhibited to the senses of men, in a few instances, 



1 created beings in many respects like men, in others more 
refined and elevated, having a human form of speech. The angels, 
in short, in their visits to this world of ours, gave man a glimpse 
of a higher and better world. They were specimens, so to speak, 
of what is to he found in the heavenly Canaan, our land of prom¬ 
ise, answering to those fruits which the spies, sent by Moses into 
Canaan, brought to the Israelites in the dreary and barren wil¬ 
derness, in order to convince them of the goodness of that pleas¬ 
ant land, and to encourage them to enter it. 


—Archbishop Whately. 


Augustine accepted the theology of St. Paul; but he could not 
break away from his sins. He withdrew to his garden, reclined 
under a fig-tree, and gave vent to hitter tears. He wrestled with 
the angel, and his deliverance was at hand. It was under the 
fig-tree of his garden that he fancied he heard the voice of an 
angel chanting and often repeating, “Tolle, lege; tolle, lege”— 
i1 Take up and read; take up and read!” He opened the Scrip¬ 
tures, and his eyes alighted on the text in Romans 13:13. His 
conversion was accomplished. —John Lord. 


There looked an angel down from above, 
Peace on his brow, in his gaze deep love; 


He turned with a smile and bowed his head, 


“Not yet will I come!” the angel said. 


Still looked the angel down from high, 
Tears in his eyes, in his heart a sigh; 
Roses and thorns in their path they tread; 
“Not yet will I come!” the angel said. 


Then smiled the angel watching still, 
Hearing a sigh, “Is it yet His will?” 


With wide open arms and a low-breath’d name, 


And a message of rest, the angel came. 


-104- 


G. Clifton Bingham, 


JOAN OF ARC SAW VISIONS. 


flbarcb 6. 


Then the woman came and told her husband, saying; A man of God came unto me, 
and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible. 

—Judges 13:3. 

I T SEEMS that when only thirteen years old Joan of Arc saw 
visions, and heard celestial voices bidding her to be good 
and to trust in God. The most remarkable thing about this young 
peasant girl is that she claimed to have had visions and heard 
voices which are difficult to be distinguished from supernatural, 
—something like the daemon of Socrates. She affirmed that Saint 
Michael, the Archangel, appeared to her in glory, encouraging 
her in virtue, and indicating to her that a great mission was 
before her,—that she was to deliver her king and country. And 
the voices which inspired the Maid of Orleans herself,—what were 
these? Who can tell? I would not assert nor would I deny, 
that they were the voices of inspiration. Who can deny that the 
daemon of Socrates was something more than a fancied voice? 
When did supernatural voices first begin to utter the power of 
God? When will the voices of inspiration cease to be heard on 
earth? In view of the fact that she did accomplish her mission, 
the voices which inspired this illiterate peasant to deliver France 
are not to be derided. Joan of Arc believed in God. She claimed 
no other wisdom than that which was communicated to her by 
the celestial voices. If she could direct a military movement in 
opposition to leaders of experience, it was only because the 
movement was indicated by an archangel. How could she work 
what seemed to be impossible miracles, if she had not a super¬ 
natural power to assist her? Like the regina angelorum, she was 
virgo castissima. . . . Charles must be crowned in the 

consecrated city—Rheims. The thing must be done. 

Then, they asked her if she heard the voices. She answered 
“yes,”—that she had prayed in secret, complaining of unbelief, 
and that the voice came to her, which said, “Daughter of God, 
go on, go on! I will be thy help!” Her whole face glowed and 
shone like the face of an angel. When undergoing trial as a 
heretic, she simply affirmed that she obeyed the voices that came 

—105 — 


106 


UNNUMBERED BLESSINGS. 


from God. They asked her in what shape Saint Michael had 
appeared to her, whether he had hair, whether it was for her 
merit that God sent His angel. Fastened to the stake amid blaz¬ 
ing fagots, she expired, exclaiming, “Jesus, Jesus! My voices, 
my voices!” 

—John Lord. 

Unnumbered blessings, rich and free, 

Have come to us, our God, from thee. 

Sweet tokens, written with thy name, 

Bright angels from thy face they came. 

Some came with open faces bright, 

Aglow with heaven’s own living light; 

And some were veiled, trod soft and slow, 

And spoke in voices grave and low. 

—Elizabeth Rundle Charles. 


CELESTIAL VOICES. 


/iDarcb 7. 

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again unto the 
woman as she sat in the field.—Judges 13:9. 

A N 1 good angels are among us, moving noiselessly through the 
world; and most men can recall one in their own circle. 
Of such angels men must often speak and call them good. But if 
these are good angels it is by courtesy and figure of speech; 
speech that proves how genuine and deep this belief in angels 
has been; that shows with what qualities we invest them. If 
there are men and women angel-like, there must needs be their 
counterparts—the angels themselves; for these good angels are 
not what the children would call “real angels,’’ and the simple 
primitive question looms up behind. What is an angel? “A 
spiritual creature,” says Luther, “created by God without a 
body, for the service of Christendom, and the Church.” “An 
intellectual and incorporeal substance,” says the more scholastic 
Puritan, “free of will, a servant of God, and by His grace im¬ 
mortal in blessedness.” Bishop Bull is even more precise, and 
pronounces angels to be, 1 ‘ certain permanent substances, invisible 
and imperceptible to our senses. ” “ Incorporeal , 9 9 say the Fath¬ 
ers, ‘ ‘ Invisible, yet perceptible of sense, rational, intellectual, im¬ 
mortal; the good, bright and impassable; the bad, passable and 
foul.” Hooker’s definition blossoms into poetry. “Angels,” he 
says,‘ ‘ are spirits immaterial and intellectual; the glorious inhab¬ 
itants of those sacred palaces where nothing but light and blessed 
immortality, no shadow of matter for tears, discontentments, 
griefs, and uncomfortable passions to work upon but all joy 
and tranquility and peace forever and ever do dwell.” There 
are five authoritive answers to choose from; of which I confess 
to like the simpler one of simple-hearted Luther, instinct as it 
is with his bold faith that man is the great object of God, and 
therefore of whatever God had made and done. In conceiving 
thus dogmatically of angels it is plain we must first dispense with 
anything so gross as a body. They are “incorporeal, invisible.” 
If they have been ever seen it has been because they assumed a 

- 107 - 


108 


FLOWERS A MESSAGE BRING. 


visible form, borrowed for the time a body not their own. For 
spirits 

“In what shape they choose 
Diluted or condensed, bright or obscure, 

Can execute their airy purposes. ” 

Milton again describes how 

“Incorporeal spirits to smallest forms. 

Reduced their shapes immense.’’ 


And as this union between them and the bodies thus assumed 
we are learnedly told, is “not substantial (as between the soul 
and body), nor hvpostatical (as between the divine and human 
nature of Christ), nor accidental; but assistential.’’ 

—W. Fleming Stevenson. 


Virgins visited by angel powers. 


—Pope. 


The soul refined, angelified. 


—Farindon. 


When musing midnight reigns or silent noon, 
Angelic harps are in full concert heard, 

And voices chanting from the wood-crowned hill, 
The deepening dale, or inmost sylvan glade; 

A privilege bestowed on us above, 

On contemplation, on the hallow’d ear 
Of poet, swelling to seraphic strain. 


— Thomson. 


LOOKED LOVINGLY ON ME. 


flDarcb 8 , 


And the woman ran and made haste, and shewed her husband, and said: Behold the 
angel hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day.—Judges 13:10. 



HE difference between angels and men is radical. Angels 


1 were created as individuals; and although connected with 
others by a common nature, and placed in social relations with 
them, yet were not derived from any created being nor dependent 
on any, as a child must be on his parents. Men are created medi¬ 
ately—brought into being in a state of helpless infancy. 


—T. Buchanan, D. D. 


Among the invisible creatures there is a manifold and indefi¬ 


nite diversity. 


—Jerome. 


The angels are not all of one species. Scripture frequently 
speaks of distinction and differences; some angels, some arch¬ 
angels. Theologians generally teach that different gifts of grace 
have been bestowed, marking out therefore different capacities, 
i. e., different species. The sacred volumes declare that these 
holy superior beings differ from one another by different grades. 


—Dionysius. 


I had a third sweet vision, 

Most blessed of the three; 

For angels from the thrones of light 
Looked lovingly on me. 

I thought to see it fade away, 

It was so bright and fair; 

But, clear as in the earlier day, 

It still abideth there; 

And ever in my soul I dream 
I hear their rapturous song. 

Oh, all too real doth it seem 
To be a vision long. 

Sweet, earnest, spirit-beaming eyes 
Upon my pathway shine, 

Sleeping or waking from the skies 
Forever bent on mine; 

And gently a beloved hand 
Doth lead me ever on, 

Unto the blessed silent land 
Where Faith and Love are gone. 


- 109 


“Ion.” 


SOCRATES HAD AN ANGEL. 


/iDaccb 9 


And Manoah said unto the angel: I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have 
made ready a kid for thee.—Judges 13:15. 


HE Bible is our only source of authentic knowledge of these 



1 heavenly creatures. That wondrous Book in many places 
speaks to us of celestial beings. No less than sixteen of the inspired 
books unite in giving to us a clear and distinct account of their 
existence, nature, dignity and employment. The heathen has 
crude ideas of these heavenly creatures—broken rays of light from 
God’s original communications to man scattered over the wide 
world. The Romans called them ‘ ‘ Lares , 9 - the Greeks ‘ ‘ Demona. ’ ’ 
Socrates had an angel; and he said that if any evil came to him 
at any time, he would be informed of it by his guardian angel. 
On that memorable day on which he was condemned to drink the 
fatal hemlock, he says: “My angel did not give me notice this 
morning of any evil that was to befall me today, therefore I can¬ 
not think it an evil, my being condemned to die.” This is cer¬ 
tainly a memorable statement. Who but an angel of God could 
have been the “knowing one” that revealed secrets to the mind 
of that great sage ! — From ‘ ‘ A Peep AVithin the Gates. ’ 9 


Oh! our angel friends above us, 
Come illume our darkened sphere, 


Let us know that still you love us, 
Let us feel your presence here. 


—Submit C. Loomis. 


Legions of angels strong and fair 
In countless armies shine; 


And swell His praise with golden harps, 
Attuned to songs divine. 


—Gregg. 


-110- 


GOD OB ANGEL GUEST. 


flDarcb 10, 


And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah. Though thou detain me, I will not eat 
of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. 
For Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.—Judges 13:16. 


HILE all the mythologies tell us of the inhabitants of the 



V V moon and planets, the Bible does not say one word about 
them. It tells us nothing of the second heaven, hut it depicts 
the inhabitants of the third, or the heaven of heavens. Descrip¬ 
tions of the angels are numerous without weariness and full of 
detail. They are exhibited to us in every situation, in heaven and 
upon earth, before God and before man, ministers of mercy, and 
sometimes executors of vengeance, standing before God adoring 
him day and night hut also employed and the servants of the 
humblest believer. We are defiled, they are perfect; we are 
haughty, they are gentle; we are vain and proud in bodies that 
worms will destroy, they are humble in glory and immortality; 
we are disturbed by passions, they are fervent in spirit, neither 
can they die. This uniformity, this purity comes not from man; 
it is from God. —Robert Hall. 


They now assist the choir 
Of angels and their songs admire. 

—Anonjnnous. 

Angels are called gods; yet of them none 
Are gods but by participation; 

As just men are entitled gods, yet none 
Are gods of them but by adoption. 


—Herrick. 


No more of talk where God or angel guest 
With man, as with his friend, familiar used 
To sit indulgent, and with him partake 
Rural repast. 


—Milton. 


-Ill- 


ANGELS RECOGNIZE. 


flDarcb U. 

And Manoah said unto the angel: What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to 
pass, we may do thee honour?—Judges 13:17. 

J UST what an angel is in appearance we cannot say. Some 
things, however, appear clear. For one thing, some angels, 
the Bible tells ns, were visible, and some not. Some were im¬ 
mense in strength, others were not. In some cases they seem to 
have been human beings commissioned to carry special messages 
to men, and clothed mysteriously in superhuman features. 

—Dr. John L. Withrow. 

These wonderful beings, whose existence and powers are thus 
revealed in the Word of God, are spoken of under various names, 
and as existing and acting in different ranks and orders. But, 
by whatever name they are called, they are always referred to 
as celestial beings, dwelling in another sphere, possessed of 
grander faculties and powers than men, and as spotlessly holy, 
and undeviatingly doing the will of God. —Dunn. 

Ah! when we learn the spirit sound and sign, 

And instantly our angels recognize, 

No weariness can tire, no pain surprise 
Our souls rapt in the intercourse divine, 

Which God permits, ordains, across our line, 

The changeless line which bars 
Our earth from other stars. 

—H. H. Jackson. 

By your side an angel guide 
Watches lest you go astray. 

—Matthias Barr. 


-112- 



ff 


MORNING 

(See page 170) 


Kaulbach 


























JOAN OF ARC LISTENING TO THE SPIRITS 

(See page 105) 


Lenepren 
















“ANGEL NAMES I DO NOT KEN." 


/TOarcb 12. 

# 

And the angel said unto him: Why makest thou thus after my name, seeing it is 
secret?—Judges 13:18. 

T HE Jews taught the ministry of the angels may be divided 
into two parts, that of praising God, and that of executing 
His behests. In regard to the former, there are myriads that daily 
praise the name of God. From sunrise to sundown they say: 
‘ ‘ Holy, holy, holy! ’ ’ and from sundown to sunrise: 4 ‘ Blessed be 
the glory of God!” In connection with this, we may mention 
the beautiful allegory, that the Angel of Prayer weaves crowns 
for God out of the prayers for Israel. As to the execution of the 
divine commands by the angels, it is suggested that their general 
designation as ministering angels might have led to jealousy 
among them. Accordingly, their names were always a composi¬ 
tion of that of God with the special commission entrusted to them, 
so that the name of each angel depended on his message, and might 
vary with it. This is beautifully explained in Yalkut, where we 
are told that each angel has a tablet on his heart, in which the 
name of God and that of the angel is combined. This change of 
names explained the answer of the angel to Manoah. 

—Edersheim. 


Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs, 

Join to sing the pleasing theme; 

All in earth, and all in heaven, 

Join to praise Emanuel ’s name. 

—Rev. Jonathan Evans. 

What shall I be when days of grief are ended, 

From earthly fetters set forever free; 

When from the harps of saints and angels blended 
I hear the burst of joyful melody? 

—Langbecker. 

Think you the notes of holy song 
On Milton’s tuneful ear have died? 

Think ye that Raphael’s angel throng 
Has vanished from his side? 

—John G. Whittier. 


To despair yield no dominion 
0 ’er thy spirit’s drooping wing— 
Soon released an angel’s pinion, 
Thou in heaven shalt sing. 


-113- 


-A. G. C. 


PEACE CROWNED ANGELS. 


flfcarcb 13. 

And the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.—Judges 13:19. 

T HE Angel of Toil. Scarcely had the young man’s eyes closed 
in sleep when a beautiful light illuminated the apartment; 
he saw, to his inexpressible wonder and delight, the figure of an 
angelic being by his side, radiant with indescribable beauty, and 
regarding him with eyes of the tenderest commiseration and the 
most divine affection. In her hand she bore a small crystal flask, 
filled with the ethereal essence of some omnipotent nepenthe, from 
which she poured one many-colored, sparkling drop upon the 
palid lips of the sleeping youth. The Spirit touched the hand 
of the young man, and, in the thrill of ineffable delight he seemed 
to awaken from his slumber, and to pass with his angelic guide 
out of the apartment. They were by the shore of the sea, and 
in an instant on board ship. But it was not on the surrounding sea 
that the youth and angel looked—it was on the still more wonder¬ 
ful spectacle that the crowded deck of the vessel presented. There 
were huddled together some two or three hundred human beings. 
‘‘Nothing can be more deplorable,’’ said the Angel, “than this 
spectacle; and nothing in reality can be more wretched than the 
condition of these men. ’ ’ The Angel breathed on the eyes of the 
young man, he started with a mingled feeling of surprise and 
pleasure. The crowd now seemed to be doubled or trebled in 
number; the new-comers were all either women or children. 
They were the objects for whom they toiled; they were the in¬ 
visible angels who, standing or reclining by their sides, upon 
this sea and wind-swept deck, as they would be, by-and-by, be¬ 
neath the overpowering autumn sun, amid the golden cornfields, 
strengthen and refresh their souls, and prevent their breasts at 
least from sinking under the weight of what would otherwise be 
intolerable and unendurable calamity. These are the Angels of 
Toil—these are the kind, invisible spirits of labor—that stand by 
the side of every happy worker, lightening his burden, strength¬ 
ening his arm, and refreshing his heart — the companions, the 
assistants, and the rewards of all his exertions. The Angel and 

-114- 


THEY CARRY HEAVEN IN THEIR LOVE. 115 

the youth passed away from this affecting spectacle—this lowest 
picture of the depth of human misery—this highest proof of the 
sublimity of human affection; and as the ever-involving pan¬ 
orama of life circled beneath them, they beheld the same scene 
re-enacted under the ever-varying circumstances of human life. 
Wherever they went, they found the same ministering angels 
standing by the side of the happy and successful workers. They 
found the same hopefulness, the same light-heartedness, the same 
-radiant expression of content on the faces of those who had the 
advantage of this invisible assistance. And they found, too, the 
same gloom, the same wretchedness, the same weariness, hopeless¬ 
ness and agony in the hearts and in the faces of that equally 
numerous class, whom vice, or selfishness, or a perverse nature 
deprived of the inestimable auxiliary of Love. 

—D. F. McCarty. 


There is no lack of angel carriers 
When mortals post to God their fervent prayers! 
And these are happy in their work, for still 
They find their heaven in doing the Father’s will. 

I have a meat, said Christ, ye know not of, 

So these—they carry heaven in their love. 


—Gerald Massey. 


WHITE WINGS IN SNOWY FLIGHT. 


/ffitarcb 14. 

For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that 
the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar.—Judges 13:20. 

B Y WHAT tokens have angels made themselves known? Such 
discovery has usually been after they had delivered their 
message, and always for the purpose of a sign, in confirmation of 
the faith of the party whom they had addressed. It is evident, 
that the angel which appeared to Manoah was taken for a prophet 
till after he had delivered his message he took leave 4 ‘wonder¬ 
fully,’ ’ to convince them of his extraordinary nature. But some¬ 
times angels did not reveal themselves fully; they gave, as it 
were, obscure and very indistinct, though powerful, intimations 
of their presence. When angels were commissioned to appear to 
certain persons only, others who were in company with those 
persons felt the effects of it. These instances evince that angels 
discovered themselves to be angels, with different degrees of clear¬ 
ness, as best suited their errand. Sometimes they were conjec¬ 
tured to be angels, but they did not advance those conjectures 
into certainty; and sometimes they left no doubt who and what 
they were, and together with their errand they declared their 
nature. —Edward Robinson, D. D. 

E’en like the passage of an angel’s tear 
That falls through the clear ether silently. 

—Keats. 


Then we may know that from the far glad skies, 

To note our need, the watchful God has sent 
Of all our loving angels the most wise 
And tender one, to point to us where lies 
The path that will be best. 

—Helen Hunt Jackson. 


In such green palaces the first kings reigned, 

Slept in their shades, and angels entertained. 

—Waller. 


—116 — 


THE CITY OF THE ANGELS. 


117 


With love from the heart of heaven, 

In the power of His holy name, 

To the City of the Queen of the Angels, 

The tender Christ-child came. 

—C. P. Stetson. 


Our skies in California! 

Such light the angels knew, 

When the strong, tender smile of God 
Kindled the spaces where they trod, 

And made all life come true! 

Deep, soundless, burning blue! 

—C. P. Stetson. 


BOWERS OF PARADISE. 


/iDarcb 15. 

And the angel did no more appear to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew he was 
an angel of the Lord.—Judges 13:21. 

F OR their service, the Talmudist taught that there was a dis¬ 
tinct class of angels who worked while others worshiped. 
These angels of service, not understanding Aramaic, the Jews 
always prayed in Hebrew. Gabriel, indeed, by an old legend, 
taught Joseph seventy tongues, but this was a solitary exception. 
Their service rests partly on their strict obedience as agents in 
carrying out God’s thoughts, and partly on their power of sym¬ 
pathy and tenderness, and their love of men. Norfolk declares 
that Queen Catherine loves Henry VIII. 

“With that excellence 
That angels love good men with;” 

Milton speaks of 

“Tears, such as angels weep;” 

and Shakespeare of such strange human infatuation as ‘ ‘ makes 
the angels weep.” “Sad,” Campbell says, 

“as angels for the good man’s sin 
Weep to record and blush to give it in;” 

a thought half-Persian in its character, and that is familiar to 
every one from occurring in that sketch, inimitable for its pathos, 
where “the recording angel, as he w T rote it down, dropped a tear 
upon the work and blotted it out forever.” Sterne was but a 
shallow moralist, and did not scruple to sacrifice ethical truth to 
a pretty thought: and his easy way of wiping out an oath sets 
at defiance those angels through whom the majesty of the Law 
was ministered, and who watched round the cradle and cross of 
Christ. There is a relief in turning to the beautiful idea of Sibbes, 
that “we have a derivative comfort from the attendance of angels 
upon Christ. They attended upon Him as the Head; they attend 
upon us as the members. ’ ’ It is not mere passive sympathy they 

- 118 - 


THEY SAID “SOW BLIND WE WERE AND DULL.” 


119 


bear, but sympathy of service. And this heavenly service is most 
various. “The angels,’’ cries Luther in his valiant way, “are 
our true and truly servants, performing offices and work that no 
poor mendicant would be ashamed to do for another, ’ ’ while again 
we “would be in despair if we should see for how many angels 
one devil makes work to do. If a man is saved from drowning, 
or escapes a falling stone, that is not chance, but the will of the 
dear angels.” Enemies spiritual and temporal are to be fought 
and ourselves tended. In church “whensoever and wheresoever 
the Word of God is preached, there are the angels present, which 
keep in safe custody all those who receive the Word of God and 
study to live after it” (Latimer). “They observe us,” another 
old divine says, ‘ ‘ and our carriages in the congregation. ’ ’ 

—W. Fleming Stevenson. 


Even as lie spoke his visage gleamed 
With light unearthly, and it seemed 
That radiant wings, unseen till then, 

Lifted and bore him from their ken. 

Awe-struck, the solitary two 
Beheld him vanish from their view, 

“It was the Angel of the Lord.” 

They said, 11 how blind we were and dull! ’’ 

— Susan Coolidge. 


THE ANGEL VISION. 


/iBarcb 16. 

And Achish said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of 
God.—I Samuel 29:9. 

T HE ministry of angels, and their supervision over human 
affairs, was a favorite and firmly believed in doctrine of the 
ancient Persians. They supposed that the eternal throne was 
situated in the sun, which, for that reason, became the chief object 
of their adoration; and that through the stars were distributed 
the various orders of angels that encircled it. In common with 
different other orientals, they held that the stars are either them¬ 
selves spirits, or vehicles of spirits, and that the falling stars are 
the firebrands, which the good angels hurl after the bad who dare 
to encroach upon their territories. They considered that, in the 
direction of human affairs particular angels had different pro¬ 
vinces and posts assigned them, with which their brethren inter¬ 
fered not; and in honor of them they bestowed their names upon 
the months and days. How these names were ascertained is a nice 
question and one not likely to be answered. With them, as well 
as the Moslems, Gabriel was the favorite angel. His reputed gifts 
were many and great. They believed him to possess the power 
of making the voyage from heaven to earth in an hour, and of 
being able to overturn a mountain with a single feather of his 
wing. Him they called Sorush, or the Giver of Souls, in con¬ 
tradistinction to the office of the Angel of Death, to whom, among 
other appellations, they gave that of Mordod, or the Giver of 
Death. Michael, who was believed to be the provider of suste¬ 
nance for human kind, they named Beshter. Besides these for¬ 
midable angels, the Persians have two antagonistical head genii, 
one good and the other evil. These twain, who are respectively 
named Ormuzd (spirit) and Ahrimon (matter), divide the gov¬ 
ernment of the world between them. One of these guides (says 
Didron) presides over evil and governs the night; the other one 
over virtue, and reigns during the day. Ahrimon is dark and 
funereal as night and hell, over which he has dominion; Ormuzd, 
on the contrary, the good genus, is luminous, sparkling, resplend¬ 
ent, as pure as the light which is subject to him. 

—Edward I. Sears, A. M. 

—120 — 


AN ANGEL DREAM. 


121 


Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy, 

With his marble block before him; 

And his face lit up with a smile of joy, 

As an angel dream passed o’er him. 

He carved it then on the yielding stone 
With many a sharp incision. 

With heaven’s own light the sculptor shone,— 

He had caught the angel vision. 

—Anonymous. 


Pure angels with her loved commune 

What time the tender virgin moon 

Kissed her young sleep through nights of June; 

Ay! and these hovered over her 

That wild night when the rain did blur 

The lamp, and w T here chill blast of wind 

Than man, than God, seemed less unkind. 

She scales, she spurns the parapet, 

Though scarce her plunge dull waters fret, 
God’s angels hover round her yet. 

Thus many a face and form we praise 
Seem hideous to the angel gaze; 

While some poor face which men despise 
Is the cynosure of angel eyes. 


—Robert Noel. 


SOMETHING OF AN ANGEL LIGHT. 


flDarcb 17. 

Then thine handmaiden said: For as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, to 
discern good and had.—II Samuel, 14:17. 

I T IS no extravagance, or overstraining the matter, when we 
say that our goodness must be angelic; for no goodness less 
than that can he Divine and heavenly, or help us to a life in 
heaven. For our call to angelic goodness does not suppose or 
require any high stretch or refined elevation of our intellectual 
faculties and powers. A shepherd watching over his flock, a poor 
slave digging in the mines, may each of them, though so employed 
to the end of their lives, stand before God in a degree of goodness 
truly angelic. Would you know the true nature of angelic good¬ 
ness, see how the spirit of Christ speaks, ‘ 4 Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, and strength, and thy 
neighbor as thyself. ’ ’ And he that in this spirit lives is an angel, 
whether he be in heaven, or enclosed in flesh and blood. And all 
of us are in the way of attaining to this angelic goodness, as soon 
as we hate the selfish tempers of our unworthy life, and earnestly 
long, in the spirit of prayer, to have the life of God brought forth 
in us. —William Law. 

And every disclosure of heavenly existence that is made to us 
shows us life without one trace of selfishness earnestly devoted to 
the service of others. Angels ’ life is very pure, holy and blessed, 
and yet these celestial beings, the angels, find their employments 
m serving. It is their joy to minister, not to be ministered unto. 
If we would be as the angels, we must have the same spirit. 

-Dr. J. R. Miller. 

Far better in its place the lowliest bird ' 

Should sing aright to Him the lowliest song, 

Than that a seraph strayed should take the word 
And sing His glory wrong. -Jean Ingelow. 

Have they kissed her— 

The angels that bend down to pull 
Our buds of the Beautiful, 

And whispered their own little sister? 

********** 

And the churchyard nestled another wee grave 

The angels another wee sister. —Gerald Massey, 

- 122 - 


EYES WITHIN. 


liDarcb 18. 

And my lord is wise according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things 
that are in the earth. — II Samuel, 14:20. 

A NGELS are endowed with the greatest intellectual faculties, 
and are, of course, possessed of knowledge superior to that 
of any other created beings. They are declared to be “full of 
eyes withinthat is, to have been all sense, all intellect, all 
consciousness, beholding at once all things within the reach of 
their understanding, and discovering them with a clearness of 
perception which is the most perfect created semblance of the 
intuitive and boundless views of the Omniscient Mind. 

—Dwight. 

For beauty of body, a very angel ; 

For endowment of mind, a veritable cherub. 

—Anonymous. 


Praise and thanks to Thee be sung, 

Mighty God, in sweetest tone! 

Lo! from every land and tongue 
Nations gather round Thy throne, 

Praising Thee that Thou dost send 
Daily from Thy heaven above 
Angel messengers of love, 

Who Thy threatened church defend, 

Who can offer worthily, 

Lord of Angels, praise to Thee. 

—Rist. 


Bright seraphs mix familiarly with men, 

And earth and sky compose a universal heaven. 

—Anonymous. 

And ’twill be well 

If on that day of days the angels tell 

Of me: “ She did her best for ona of Thine. ’ ’ 

—Helen Hunt Jackson. 


- 123 - 


HIS DEEDS HIS ANGELS ARE. 


/iDarcb 19, 


And Mephibosheth answered: But my lord the king is an angel of God; thy servant 
did eat at thine own table.—II Samuel, 19:27. 


HE word Angel is of Greek origin, and means a messenger— 



1 one sent. The Hebrew word, translated angel, has the same 
meaning. This term is somewhat indefinite, and for this reason 
some have supposed that the doctrine of the angels does not 
properly belong to theological science. But this objection is with¬ 
out ground, because we find that many of God’s creatures are 
named not so much according to their specific nature, as their 
peculiar activity and employment. For instance, the Greek name 
of man means one who turns up the countenance. So our English 
word man, evidently taken from the Latin word 1 ‘ Mens, ’ ’ means 
one who thinks. So the word angel as applied to a distinct order, 
or class of rational beings designates a peculiar kind of activity 
from which the character of the acting agent may be easily in¬ 
ferred. —Bev. Moses Kieffer, D. D. 

Wherefore Angels be nothing else but as Damascene defineth: 

‘ ‘ A most pure, and perfect, intellectual, immaterial and immortal 
creature, created and appointed to be God’s attendants and mes¬ 
sengers between God and man.” —John Salkeld. 

The termination “el” of their names (angel) implies power, 
strength, and is synonymous with that by which we call the 
Almighty, God. 

Madam de Stael was once asked, in a spirit of bandage, how 
it was that the angels were always spoken of in the masculine and 
appear in the guise of men! She promptly replied: “Because 
the union of power with purity constitutes all that we mortals 
can imagine of perfection.” — M. 


Believe me, too, that rugged souls, 
Beneath their rudeness hide 


Much that is beautiful and good 
We’re all our angel side. 


-124- 


Anonvmous. 


ANGELS COULD DO NO MORE. 


Thy purpose firm is equal to the deed: 

Who does the best his circumstance allows 
Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more. 

—Young. 

His deeds His angels are for good or ill 

That wing their flight along the infinite of years. 

—John Fletcher. 

As if an angel dropped down from the clouds 

To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus 

And witch the world with noble horsemanship. 

— Shakespeare. 


SHUTTING OF ANGEL’S HANDS. 


flDarcb 20. 


And whan the Angel of the Lord stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy 
it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people: 
It is enough; stay now thine hand.—II Samuel, 24:16. 


HE foot of the great bright ladder, whose top reaches to 



1 heaven, is in our very midst, stretching upwards with its 
shining star to the Throne of God; and around it and upon it are 
the blessed angels, waiting to carry up our prayers to God, and 
to fetch down to us the Divine Benediction. 0 sinner, yet unre¬ 
newed in the spirit of thy mind, shall they wait in vain, as far 
as you are concerned? Will you charge them with no message 
in behalf of yourself? Shall they not have the joy of seeing you 
throwing yourself at the feet of the present Savior, and abandon 
yourself to the treatment of the good Physician? 


—Dean Coulburn. 


The life of the angels is the love of uses. Selfishness and death 
are with them synonymous. Their offices, employments and 
duties, all for the good of others, are of infinite variety. Many 
of them are engaged in secret and constant services to the human 
race. There are angels of birth and death; angels who comfort 
in sickness and sorrows; angels who instruct and enlighten; 
angels who defend from evil spirits; angels who lead the sweet 
thoughts of innocent children; angels who inspire conjugal love; 
and a thousand other genera and species of heavenly ministers. 


—Swedenborg. 


Adam was kept out of Paradise by cherubim, yet cherubim 
and seraphim and all the host of heaven are ready to receive the 
saints into the glorious city. 0! what a joy shall be in heaven 
at the first admittance of these souls! What clasping, closing, 
kissing, embracing will be at this entrance betwixt saints and 
.angels. Welcome, say the angels, and welcome say the archangels; 
:yea, the principalities triumph, and powers rejoice, and virtues 
- shine, and thrones glitter, and cherubim give light, and seraphim 
burn at the soul’s arrival, where they shall live together, and love 
together, and sing together Jehovah’s praise.. 


—Isaac Ambrose. 


—126 — 


ANGELS UNSEEN ATTEND US. 


127 


When the holy angels meet us, 

As we go to join their hand, 

Shall we know the friends that greet us 
In that glorious spirit land 1 ? 

Shall we see the same eyes shining 
On us, as in days of yore? 

Shall we feel the dear ones twining 
Fondly round us as before? 

—Anonymous. 


Angels unseen attend the saints, 
And bear them in their arms, 

To cheer the spirit when it faints, 
And guard the life from harms. 

The angels’ Lord Himself is nigh 
To them that love His name; 
Ready to save them when they cry, 
And part their foes to shame. 


—John Newton. 


TO TENT AND CROFT. 


/Ifcarcfo 21. 

And the Angel of the Lord was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 

—II Samuel, 24:16. 

M ARCH 25th is the Day of Annunciation. Lady-Day, or Day 
of Annunciation is only an abridgment of Our Lady’s Day, 
and is peculiarly dedicated to the Virgin Mary, from its having 
been the season Avhen the angel announced to her that she should 
bring forth a Son. (Luke 1:31.) Its near approach to the vernal 
equinox, one of the natural divisions of the year, was—it may be 
supposed—the reason of its being called Quarter Day. 

—George Soane. 

It is not surprising that, in the ages when art was the hand¬ 
maid of religion, few painters thought of portraying Mary with¬ 
out her attendant train of angels. Botticele has an exquisite 
picture in the Florence gallery of the blessed one writing her 
‘ ‘ Magnificat. ’ ’ Her babe is in her lap, and her face is the reflec¬ 
tion of the words she spoke in such sweet and humble exaltation 
to Elizabeth. But the shadow of the future is in the faces of the 
angels who look on with a love thrice tender from the pity of it 
—as if wondering that she should forget the sword of Simeon. 
Who has not been held awe-struck by the masterpiece of the 
Dresden gallery—nay, of the world! The Madonna di San Sisto? 
Surely the Sanzios brush was guided by an angel’s hand! 

-M. 


Coming forth, descending from on high 
I saw two angels, each with sword of fire, 

Truncated flames, of forms that points deny. 

Verdant as new-born leaflets their attire 

Was seen, while they with green wings onward drove, 

Beaten and blown in many a breezy spire. 

—Dante. 


In the old days God sent his angels oft 

To men in threshing-floors, to women pressed 
With daily tasks; they came to tent and croft, 

And whispered words of blessing and of rest. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 



Lefler 

THE HEAVENLY MESSENGER 

(See page 171) 















HOPE 


Lefler 


•v. 

Lefler 

EAITH 


(See page 174) 
























FALLING OF ANGEL TEARS. 


/iDarcb 22. 


And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and 
said: Lo! I have sinned and done wickedly.—II Samuel, 24:17. 

H OW loving are the angels to men; for they rejoice over one sin¬ 
ner that repenteth. There she is in that garret where the stars 
look between the styles. She is dying fast; but she cries, 4 4 Lord, 
I repent! Have mercy upon me, I beseech Thee.’ ’ Did the bells 
ring in the street ? Did men rejoice? Ah, no! But, stay! There 
was one standing at her bedside who noted well that tear,—an 
angel who had come down from heaven to watch over this stray 
sheep, and mark its return; and no sooner was her prayer uttered 
than he clapped his wings, and there was seen flying up to the 
pearly gates a spirit like a star. The heavenly guards came crowd¬ 
ing to the gate, crying: 1 ‘What news, 0 son of fire? Has she 
turned to Christ V 9 “ ’Tis even so , 9 9 said he. And then they told 
it through the streets to other bright angels, and the bells of 
heaven rang marriage peals, for Magdalene was saved. 

—Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. 

Oh, for the sacred energy which struck 
The harp of Jesse’s son; or for a spark 
Of that celestial flame which touched the lips 
Of blest Isaiah, when the seraphim 
With living fire descended, and his soul 
From sin’s pollution purged! 

—Hannah More. 

Angels to beckon me 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 

Nearer to Thee! 

— Sarah Flower Adams. 


- 129 - 


WITH INEXPRESSIVE NOTES. 


ZlDarcb 23. 


And he set the cherubim within the inner house.—I Kings, 6:27. 


E MAY observe with respect to the angelic powers of whom 



V V the cherubim were the emblems, that they have an intel¬ 
lectual interest in the atonement. They are of a superior order. 
The very forms under which they are represented, and which 
were the symbols of intelligence, strength, courage and activity, 
indicate this much. But they are brought before us as fixing their 
intent gaze upon the ark of the covenant. They are great in 
intellect, no doubt, as they excel in strength. Over the vast fields 
of science they travel with ease, where man proceeds with so much 
difficulty. To them the spaces of all nature are open; they can 
wing their way from world to world, and sweep over the grandeur 
of creation. But over whatever other sights their view ranges, 
there is one that fixes their gaze. They fly through the earth, but 
they rest in the sanctuary. Here they stay their flight, and, with 
adoring reverence, look into those very peculiarities of the Gospel 
which to worldly wisdom is foolishness. 


—Rev. Richard Watson. 


The helmed cherubim, 

And sworded seraphim 

As seen in the glittering ranks with wings displayed, 

Harping in loud and solemn choir 

With inexpressive notes to heaven's born heir. 


—Milton. 


All heaven is there, all joy! Go in, go in; 
The angels beacon thee the prize to win: 
Room, room, still room! oh enter, enter now! 


—Horatius Bonar. 


- 130 - 


ALL ANGELS CRY ALOUD. 


/iDavcb 24. 

And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim, 

—I Kings, 6:29. 

I T IS, however, of the first importance to ascertain the true 
nature of the cherubim. That this is no easy matter is evident 
from the wide diversity of opinions on the subject. The Scrip¬ 
tures nowhere give us a direct explanation of the nature of the 
cherubim. The key to this matter we have in Genesis III. There 
the cherub meets us in the history of the first man. We learn 
from this that the revelation beginning with Abraham found them 
already existing,—that they do not originally belong to the de¬ 
partment of revelation, but to that of natural religion,—that they 
are an image in which the piety of the primeval world represents 
the nature of surrounding things. As we have nowhere an intelli¬ 
gent account of the nature of the cherubim, and this is rather 
presupposed to be already known, we must endeavor to discover 
it from the scattered hints that have come down to us; and this 
is a difficult task. —E. W. Hengstenberg. 

When round Thy cherubs—smiling calm, 

Without their flames—we wreathe the palm, 

0 God! we feel the emblem true— 

Thy mercy is eternal too. 

Those cherubs, with their smiling eyes, 

That crown of palm which never dies, 

Are but the types of Thee above— 

Eternal Life, and Peace, and Love. 

—Thomas Moore. 

Those notes have escaped from some higher sphere; they are 
the outpourings of eternal harmony. —Newman. 


—131 — 



YOUNG EYED CHERUBIM. 


flDatrcb 25. 


And the two doors were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim 
and palm trees and open flewers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the 
cherubim.—I Kings, 6:32. 

C HERUBIM is the name given by the sacred writers to cer¬ 
tain well-known religious symbols, intended to represent a 
high order of spiritual beings. The cherubim were intended to 
represent divine existences in immediate contact with Jehovah. 
This was the view of Chrysostom, Athanasius, Ambrose, Augus¬ 
tine, and the Fathers generally. The office ascribed to the sym¬ 
bolic beings is mainly twofold: 1. A protective function in guard¬ 
ing from man’s too close intrusion the physical and moral splen¬ 
dors of a lost Paradise and a sacred revelation. 2. To form the 
throne and chariot of the Divine Being in His earthly manifes¬ 
tations, and to guard the outskirts of His unapproachable glory. 
The cherubim engraved and woven in the temple decorations, 
while they symbolize this function, serve also as a seal of simili¬ 
tude, that is, as heraldic insignia of the divine attributes to mark 
Jehovah’s presence by their guardian ministries. At the same 
time, from another point of view, they were no less significant of 
the fullness of life subordinated to Him who created it. 

—Kitto. 


Beneath us sinks the pomp angelical, 

Cherub, seraph, powers and virtues all. 

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

Angel of Pain, I think thy face 
Will be, in all the heavenly place, 

The sweetest face that I should see, 

The sweetest face to smile on me. 

Dear patient angel, to thine own 
Thou comest, in some lovely twilight place 
The light of thy transfigured face 
Sudden shines out, and speechless they 
Know they have walked with Christ all day. 

—Saxe Holm. 


t - 132 - 


ANGELIC AGENCY. 


/iDarcb 26. 

And an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with 
thee in thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.—I Kings, 13:18. 

T HERE it is, in intensifying or in some particular way direct¬ 
ing, natural causes, that the angels carry out his commands. 
According to the rabbis, there is nothing in the world without an 
angel, not so much as a blade of grass. He who established and 
upholds those laws commits their administration to his servants. 
Through his angels he guides the world in its onward course. The 
personifications of poetry and the legends of mythology are 
obscure witnesses of this truth, wdiich, however, can rest only on 
the revelations of Scripture. The angelic agency, like that of 
man, does not exclude the action of secondary, or what are called 
natural, causes, or interfere with the directness and universality 
of the providence of God. Thus it is that in the breezes there are 
living spirits; and that God’s angels guide the thunder-clouds. 

—Patterson. 

it 

Our vows are heard betimes! Heaven takes care 
To grant, before we can conclude the prayer; 

Preventing angels met it half the way, 

And sent us back to praise, who came to pray. 

--Dry den. 

Thousands, tens of thousands stand, 

Spirits blest, before the throne, 

Speeding thence at thy command, 

And, when thy commands are done, 

Singing everlastingly 
To the blessed Trinity. 

—C. Wordsworth. 


- 133 - 


AN ANGEL TOUCHED HIM. 


flDarcb 27 


And as Elijah lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold! then an angel touched him, 
and said unto him: Arise and eat.—I Kings, 19:5. 


QDERN theologians find it under every sense more conven- 



i vi ient to hold that God created the angels from the very first 
in a state of grace; that He then placed a labor of trial before 
them—that the wicked angels failed in the endurance of that trial, 
and their sin was therefore doubly malicious; that the good angels 
were faithful, and stepped from grace to greater grace, and to the 
enjoyment of the Beatific Vision. Each angel, perhaps, had thou¬ 
sands of beautiful graces. To many of these we on earth could 
give no name, if we beheld them. But they are all wonderful, all 
instinct with supernatural holiness and spiritual magnificence. 


—Faber. 


So that Elijah was watched and guarded even while he slept. 
Observe how God uses the ministry of angels. 44 Are they not all 
ministering spirits?” No wilderness is too solitary for the 
attendance of those blessed spirits. While he slept, his breakfast 
was made ready for him by those spiritual hands. Not only was 
the prophet protected, but he was provided for by the angel. And 
does not God give us all food in like manner? God prepares a 
table in the wilderness. It is not the first time he has given 
angel’s food in the desert. —P. C. 


All God’s angels come to us disguised. 
Sorrow and sickness, poverty and death, 

One after another lift their frowning masks, 
And we behold the seraph’s face beneath, 

All radiant with the glory and the calm 
Of having looked upon the front of God. 


—Lowell. 


Angel hands to other lands 
Carry back the soul to God. 


—Matthias Barr. 


134 - 


THY WARM ALLIES. 


/TCsarcb 28 


And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him, and said: 
Arise and eat.—I Kings 19:7. 



HE angel came to Elijah, and made ready for him, and bade 


1 him rise and eat. Elijah had his food before he entered the 
wilderness. Christ had it after he had been forty days. An angel 
brought food to Elijah before his trial; to Christ, after his trial. 
Thus our experiences are realized in different ways. 


—Dr. Parker. 


The grand law of continuity, the last outcome of modern 
science, which seems absolute throughout the realm of matter, 
force and mind, so far as we can explore them, cannot surely fail 
to be true beyond the narrow sphere of our vision, and leave an 
infinite chasm between man and the Great Wind of the universe! 
Such a supposition seems to me in the highest degree improbable. 
Our pyramid, then, may not, does not end in man. The edifice of 
life goes on through those mysterious ranks of being known to 
His as the angels, until it ends at the very pillars of the divine 
throne in the highest grade of angelic being—the cherubim them¬ 
selves. Nor is it contrary to the truth to express this continuity 
of life from the earthside upward by a symbolism drawn, first 
from inanimate nature, as the clouds and rainbow, and next from 
the orders of animals, and from man. Moreover, the physical 
qualities which such creatures as the eagle, ox, and lion personify 
are certainly possessed by those angels whose life-history we read 
in the Holy Bible. Their swiftness of motion, lofty courage, 
strength, supreme powers of destruction, as the executors of judg¬ 
ment in the Divine government—these and such like traits appear 
in the angels of sacred history. 


— Distinguished Naturalist. 


Angels are men of a superior kind; 

Angels are men in lighter habit clad, 

High o’er celestial mountains winged in flight; 
And men are angels, loaded for an hour, 


- 135 - 


MORTALS HAVE THEIR PRAISE. 


Who made this miry vale, and climb with pain, 

And slippery step, the bottom of the steep. 

Angels their failings, mortals have their praise; 
While here, of corpse ethereal, such enrolled 
And summoned to the glorious standard room, 

Which flames eternal crimson through the skies; 

Nor are our brothers thoughtless of their kin, 

Yet absent; but not absent from their love. 

Michael has fought our battles; Raphael, sung 
Our triumphs; Gabriel, on our errands flown, 

Sent by the Sov’reign: and are these, 0 man, 

Thy friends, thy warm allies'? and thou (shame burn 
Thy cheek to cinder!) rival to the brute? 


—Edward Y< 


COVETLESS. 


flDarcb 29. 


But the angel said unto Elijah the Tishbite: Arise, go up to meet the messengers of 
the King of Samaria.—II Kings 1:3. 

'T'HE meaning of the word “angel” is messenger. That name 
1 is given to those pure spirits because such is the relation 
they hear to God and us. Their principal duty, however, is the 
same as the office of the blessed in heaven —to see, love, bless and 
enjoy God for ever and ever. Some of the Greek philosophers 
held that there were angels, but that these angels had bodies; not, 
indeed, corporeal, dense bodies like ours, but bodies suitable to 
their nature—thin, airy, star-like bodies. Some, even, of the 
Fathers, on account of the angels being represented as having the 
appearance of men, seemed to favor the theory of their having 
bodies. Potavins says that Irenaeus, Tertullean, Origen, and 
others held the doctrine. Others hold that the angels are pure 
spirits, because, wherever in the Scripture they are introduced, 
they are simply called by the name of spirit: “Are they not all 
ministering spirits?” (Heb. 1:14): “Who maketh Thy angels 
spirits.” (Ps. 104:4.) — O’Kennedy. 

The company of angels 
Are praising Thee on high, 

And mortal men, and all things 
Created make reply. 

— Theodulph of Orleans. 

Rich in experience that angels might covet. 

—Anonymous. 

Others more mild 
Retreated in a silent valley, sing 
With notes angelical to many a harp. 

—Milton. 


- 137 - 


BECKON ME AWAY. 


/IDarcb 30. 


And the Angel of the Lord said unto Elijah: Go down with him; he not afraid of 
him.—II Kings 1:15. 


ANY of the ancient heathen has—probably from tradition— 



i V 1 some notion of good and evil angels. They had some con¬ 
ception of a superior order of beings, between men and God, 
whom the Greeks generally termed demons (knowing ones), and 
the Romans, genii. Some of these they supposed to be kind and 
benevolent, delighting in doing good; others, to be malicious and 
cruel, delighting in doing evil. But their conceptions of both one 
and the other were crude, imperfect and confused, being only frag¬ 
ments of truth, partly delivered down by their forefathers and 
partly borrowed from the inspired writings. Of the former, the 
benevolent kind, seems to have been the celebrated demon of 
Socrates, concerning which so many and so various conjectures 
have been made in succeeding ages, rindoubtedly it was some 
spiritual being, probably one of these ministering spirits. Hesiod 
does not scruple to say: “Millions of spiritual creatures walk the 
earth unseen.” But how empty, childish, unsatisfactory are all 
the accounts which the heathen give of angels! Revelation only 
is able to supply this defect; this only gives us a clear, rational 
consistent account of those whom our eyes have not seen nor our 
ears heard; of both good and evil angels. 


For me my elder brethren stay, 
And angels beckon me away, 
And Jesus bids me come. 


—John Wesley. 


By Him the violated law speaks out 

Its thunders; and by Ilim, in strains as sweet 

As angels use, the gospel whispers peace. 


—Anonymous. 


ROYAL DEFOTATIOR. 


flDarcb 31. 

And “behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both 
asunder; and Elijah went up hy a whirlwind into heaven.-—II Kings 2:11. 

E LIJAH’S probation is ended. A deputation of extraordinary 
magnificence leaves heaven and starts earthward. The 
citizens of God’s metropolis gather near the gates of the city, 
standing upon eternal arches of translucent pearl spanning the 
way, while angels, still mounting higher, with harp in hand—the 
royal deputation from heaven, descending like light, flashes along 
down the ranges of the milky way. Soon they see steeds of fire 
shod with meteors and wings of speed, whose quivering manes 
drop golden frost, and whose nostrils were as the morning light. 
Behind them a chariot of fire, whose wheels of flaming ruby sing¬ 
ing upon their axles down heaven’s blue pavement struck light¬ 
ning. Elisha falls back overwhelmed, and Elijah mounts the 
wondrous car and, disappointing death and the grave, waves 
good-bye to earth, and straight turning, wheels above the con¬ 
stellations, and hies away to the city of God. But a moment 
elapsing till the fiery rims of his chariot wheels are flying through 
the portals of the heavenly city, welcomed by angels and arch¬ 
angels in anthems of heaven’s orchestra, and the triumphant 
shouts of heaven’s hosts. —Munsey. 

The world recedes, it disappears; 

Heaven opens on my eyes; my ears 
With sounds seraphic ring. 

—Pope. 

The rift ’twixt Sense and Spirit will be healed 
Ere the Redeemer’s work be crowned and sealed: 
*********** 

And Heaven is as near Earth as when 
The angels visibly conversed with men. 

—Gerald Massey. 

I heard an angel singing 
When the day was springing: 
il Mercy, Pity and Peace 
Are the world’s release!” 

—William Blake. 

- 139 - 



Bprtl 


'"S 


* 





» 







- 






















































♦ 




































■ 
































. 















Hptil. 

ELISHA'S BODY-GUARD. 

Hpctl l. 


And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, hehold, the mount¬ 
ain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.—II Kings 6:17. 

E LISHA saw the angels that compassed him round, he knew 
that they were there. Elisha’s servant did not see a vision. 
His bodily eyes beheld an appearance as of chariots and horses of 
fire, which was based on the objective reality of the actual pres¬ 
ence of an angelic host upon the hill whereon Dothan was situated. 

-P. C. 

The heavenly host were really there, but unperceived, as the 
stars are in the heavens, and the flowers in the field, though the 
blind man sees them not. All he needs is opened eves. Behold 
the mountain. The hill on which Dothan was situated was full 
of horses and chariots of fire, the symbols of the unseen powers 
and forces of God which defended the prophet. It is a picture 
commentary on the psalmist’s words: The angel of the Lord 
encampeth round them that fear him, and delivereth them. 

—Farrar. 


0 providence beyond compare! 

0 glorious vision, wondrous sight! 

0 miracle, transcending far 
Imagination’s boldest flight. 

Horses and chariots of fire 

About the mount keep watch and ward; 

The highest seraphim aspire 
To form Elisha’s body-guard. 

—John Brooke Greenwood. 


- 143 - 



144 


THE MOUNT IS FULL OF ANGELS. 


Yet the prophet’s servant saw, 

When the Syrian host assailed, 

Every heavenly warrior 
And bright encampment all unveiled. 

—James Edmeston. 


But not the less gray Dothan shone 
With sunbright watches bending low, 

That Fear’s dim eye beheld alone 
The spear-heads of the Syrian foe. 

—Whittier. 

“Lord, open Thou his eyes that he may see!” 

How changed the scene; these rocks that lately lay 
Opaque and dull beneath the azure sky, 

Are robed in glory that outshine the sun; 

Embattled legions gird the prophet round 

With blazoned banners and heaven-tempered spears; 

Horses and chariots, in whose fiery sheen 
The pomp of Syria’s army but appears 
Like a dim candle in the noon-day blaze: 

The mount is full of angels. 


—Lucy Larcom. 



Thomson 

FIRST EASTER DAWN 

(See page 274) 



TWO CHERUBS 

(See page 179) 


Raphael 
















Lefler 


THE DIVINE GUARD 

(See page 181) 









WITH LOFTY HONORS. 


Bprtl 2 


And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: 0 Lord God of Israel, which dwellest 
between the cherubim, thou art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. 

—II Kings 19:15. 


E MA Y now proceed to the derivation of the name 4 6 cheru- 



V Y him,” but we can give only the chief conjectures. From 
Semitic sources we have the following conjectures: 1. That the 
word is derived from “aravit,” and means “plower” or “ox.” 
This is the derivation most generally adopted. 2. By metathesis 
from “a chariot.” 3. For “near,” meaning the angels nearest 
God. 4. From “noble.” 5. From a word meaning “like a boy,” 
adopted by most of the Rabbis. 6. From a word meaning ‘ ‘ the 
consecrated guardian or attendant.” 7. From a word meaning 
‘ ‘ powerful.* 1 8. From a Syriac root meaning 6 6 to cut. ’ ’ 9. The 
oldest derivation is from a Hebrew word, “abundance of knowl¬ 
edge,” a meaning once universally adopted. The distinction 
between the fiery zeal of seraphs and the wisdom of cherubim 
is often alluded to in our earlier divines, as in Jeremy Taylor: 
“There are some holy spirits whose crown is all love, and some 
in whom the brightest jewel is understanding.” 


-Kitto. 


Angels of light, your God and King surround 
With noble songs; in his exalted flesh 
He claims j r our worship; while His saints on earth 
Bless their Redeemer—God—with humble tongues, 
Angels with lofty honors crown his head. 


—Watts. 


When you’re sleeping, children fair, 
Angels keeping watch are there. 


—Matthias Barr. 


r— 145 — 


ANGEL OF DEATH. 


Bprtl 3. 

And it came to pass that night that the Angel of the Lord went out, and smote in 
the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four score and five thousand.—II Kings 19:35. 

A ND it ought not to be overlooked that, in proportion as we 
lose sight of the doctrine that good angels are “ministering 
spirits,’ ’ influencing us for righteousness, we are likely to forget 
the power of our great “adversary, the devil,” who with hosts 
under his guidance continually labors at effecting our destruction. 
It can hardly be thought that they, who are keenly alive to their 
exposure to the assaults of malignant but invisible enemies, should 
be indifferent to the fact of their having on their side the armies 
of heaven: good and evil spirits must be considered as antago¬ 
nists in the struggle for ascendancy over man; and there is there¬ 
fore more than a likelihood that they who think little of their 
friends in so high a contest will depreciate their foes, and then 
more than ever expose themselves to their power. 

—A. Melville. 

The Assyrians came down like the wolf on the fold, 

And his cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold; 

*********** 

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, 

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; 

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, 

And their hearts but once heaved, and forever were still. 

—Lord Byron. 


Till sensuous and unsensuous seemed one thing, 

Viewed from one level,—earth’s reapers at the sheaves 
Scarce plainer than heaven’s angels on the wing. 

—Elizabeth B. Browning. 


-14.6 - 


ANGEL OF KINDNESS. 


Bprtl 4. 

So God came to David and said: Thus saith the Lord; choose then. Either three 
years’ famine, or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, or else three days the 
sword of the Lord, and the Angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of 
Israel.—I Chronicles 21:12. 

T HE possibility of such beings as the Angels of Holy Writ is 
continually more and more confirmed by modern natural 
science. There on high, stars of endlessly diversified hue and form 
roll through the boundless fields of space; many of them ethereally 
light as golden dreams, like floating orbs of spirit. The dwellers 
in them must be answerable to their sylph-like nature, in fineness 
of organization and freedom of movement. For philosophers 
indeed who see in the whole starry heavens only 6 ‘ rocks of light, ’ ’ 
or uninhabited deserts, the whole universe is but an Ahriman, a 
world shut up and dark for mind. But if the heavens are really 
inhabited, as the analogy of our own earth authorizes us to believe, 
they must be regarded of course as a vast boundless region of 
spirits. In this boundless range are to be found the ministering 
spirits, which are spoken of in the Epistle to the Hebrews cer¬ 
tainly as having an objection or real existence. To conceive, how¬ 
ever, of their apparition objectively, we must take into view the 
preparation of the subject inwardly for being favored with such 
vision. Most souls are unceasingly filled with the noise of the 
outward actual world, led captive by it and bound. But their 
souls ou the other hand, which possess a higher and more active 
sense for the infinite, because they have courage from God to let 
the attractions of earth pass by them as something foreign from 
their own life. Their inward frame leads them ever to see the 
outward course of the world, its approaching dissolution and end. 
It lies, however, in the nature of the case, that one for whom the 
world is thus turned to shadow shouldst the same time win an 
organ, or rather have one unfolded within him, by which he may 
see into heaven, and become sensible of heavenly impressions. 
Wjhen an old form of the world is ready to fall, and a new one 
from heaven is expected to take its place, the noblest minds are 
found to be so to speak vacant, or more properly open for what 
is from above—no more occupied with the old world, which with 

- 147 - 


148 


UNDERSTANDING THEIR MESSAGE. 


its noise and show has become for them as it were dead. In this 
state, they can hear spirit voices and see the angels of God. In 
such frame the women of the gospel come to the grave of Jesus; 
for them all the glory of the world lay in its bosom. They had 
for this reason an open eye, the inward vision of seers, for the 
heavenly messengers, so was it also with the sight bestowed upon 
the disciples on the Mount of Olives, when Christ left them for 
heaven. The earth for them dissolved into nothing, as their Mas¬ 
ter was taken from their side; and now they could see the mes¬ 
sengers from on high, and understand their message. 

— Translated from J. P. Lange. 

When the Angel of Kindness 
Saw, doomed to the dark, 

Us men of its likeness, 

It sought for a spark— 

Stray gem of God’s glory 
That shines so serene— 

And falling like a lark, 

To brighten our story, 

Pure Pity was seen. 


—Victor Hugo. 


SILENCE FILLED THE SKY. 


Hprtl 5. 


And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it.—I Chronicles 21:15. 

A NGELS are employed as the instruments of judgment upon 
the enemies of God; they will officiate in the final judgment 
in separating the good from the bad, in gathering the elect, and 
bearing them to meet the Lord. —Dr. A. A. Hodge. 

Their other employment is immediately to execute God’s com¬ 
mands about the government of the world; they are the great 
ministers of providence, and it is their glory so to be; their serv¬ 
ice is their privilege; as in the courts of princes every attendant 
is honorable, or at least thinks himself so. The angels are still 
dispatched by God upon all His great messages to the world; and 
therefore their very name in Greek signifies a messenger. In 
short, they have the most illustrious employment that can be, 
which is to be ambassadors extraordinary from the King of 
Kings. — R. South, D, D. 


When all the heavenly host around 
Heard the tremendous fiat’s sound, 

That man was doomed to die; 

Each on the other gazed in dread, 

Each hung his sad, angelic head, 

And silence filled the sky. 

—Hodgson. 

There was a lyre, ’tis said, that hung 
High waving in the summer air; 

An angel hand its chords had strung, 

And left to breath its music there. 

—Milton Ward. 


- 149 - 


HOLY SPIRIT-LAND. 


Hpril 6, 


And as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and said to the angel that destroyed: It 
is enough, stay now thine hand.—I Chronicles 21:15. 


ND how mighty a fall was the fall of an angel! For the 



angels no provision of salvation has been revealed. Scrip¬ 
ture does not reveal to us the immediate cause of the fall of the 
angels; and when Scripture is silent, it becomes not man to con¬ 
jecture. Universal tradition says they fell by pride—“By that 
sin fell the angels.” It is said by the Jews, that whenever God 
did execute his vengeance on mankind, he made angels the means 
by which he executed it — that whatever befell individuals or 
nations, tribes or families, was always executed by the angelic 
host; not indeed by those who had “kept their first estate,” hut 
by those who had sinned; whatever evils befell mankind were 
attributed to the agency of evil angels—storms and shipwrecks, 
plagues and accidents—all were referred to the same secondary 
causes. — Ily Christmas. 


In ourselves is hid 
The holy spirit-land, 

With its relentless brand; 

We feel the pang, when the dread sword 

Inscribes the hidden sin 

And turneth everywhere to guard 


The paradise within. 


—Elizabeth Oakes Smith. 


And found at last, the mystic Grael I see, 

Brimmed with this blessing, pass from lip to lip 
In sacred pledge of human fellowship; 

And over all the songs of angels hear,— 

Songs of the love that casteth out all fear,— 
Songs of the Gospel and of Humanity. 


—J. G. Whittier. 


150- 


BEAUTEOUS GUARDIAN ANGEL. 


Hpnl 7. 


And the Angel of the Lord stood by the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite. 

—I Chronicles 21:15. 

G REAT, therefore, is the dignity of the human soul, since 
each has an angel assigned to it as its guardian. 

—St. Jerome. 

We know that God needs no attendants to perform His com¬ 
mands, being omnipresent; but being Himself likened to a great 
King, His angels are compared to courtiers and ministers, subor¬ 
dinate to Him, and employed in His service. It cannot be said, 
God does not need angels, therefore angels do not exist; for God 
does not need man, yet man exists. This principle is evidently 
the foundation of the apologue which prefaces the poetical part 
of the Book of Job: “There was a day, when the sons of God 
came to present themselves (as it were at court) before the Lord.” 
Isaiah’s vision is to the same purpose, and our Lord continues 
the same idea, especially when speaking of His glorious return: 
‘ ‘ When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy 
angels with Him.” In reference to the services rendered by 
angels to mankind, we may safely adopt the idea of their being 
servants of this great King, sent from before His throne to this 
lower world, to execute His commissions; so far, at least, Scrip¬ 
ture warrants us. —Taylor. 

But on he moves, to meet his latter end, 

Angels around befriending virtues’ friend. 

— Oliver Goldsmith. 

Beauteous guardian angel, 

Tarry here with me; 

Or guide me through the twilight, 

Far, far, with thee. 

—Ettrick Shepherd. 


- 151 - 


TOKEN OF ANGELIC PRESENCE. 


Bpril 8* 

And David saw the Angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven hav¬ 
ing a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem.—I Chronicles 21:16. 

T HE general token of angelic presence seems to have been a 
certain splendor, or brightness, accompanying their persons; 
but this seems to have also a distinction in degree. It would seem 
that sometimes a person only, not a splendor, was seen; some¬ 
times a splendor only, not a person; and sometimes, both a person 
and a splendor. No doubt many parts of their nature, powers and 
offices must remain hidden from us here; but when we exchange 
earth for heaven, this subject, like many others, may be infinitely 
better understood by us. —Edward Robinson, D. D. 

When David’s heart was lifted up with pride, 

And more in multitudes than God relied, 

Three days, an angel armed with pestilence 
Smote down the people of the King’s offense; 

Yet when his humbled soul for Israel prayed, 

Heaven heard his groaning, and the plague was stayed; 

He kneeled between the living and the dead, 

Even as the sword came down on Zion’s head; 

Then went the Almighty’s voice throughout the land, 

“It is enough; avenger, rest thy hand.” 

—Montgomery. 


Angel of Music! when our finest speech 
Is all too coarse to give the heart relief, 

The inmost fountains lie within thy reach, 

Soother to every joy and every grief. 

—William Allingham. 


—152 - 


THE ANGEL PLOWMAN. 


Bpril 9. 


Then the Angel of the Lord commanded God to say to David that David should set up 
an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Oman.—I Chronicles 21:18. 


NGELS are evidently employed to observe the prayers and 



actions of God’s people, and are commissioned to relate and 
remember them in heaven. Such agency is not a necessity to God; 
neither is the agency of man, be he preacher, teacher or evangelist. 
As the omniscient God does not depend upon His angels for His 
information so He does not depend upon the wisdom, strength and 
zeal of men for the conversion of sinners. Still, if he can do with¬ 
out these agents, angelic and human, He does not. The absolute 
necessity for the use of angels cannot be proved; but the reason 
for employing such instrumentality may be found in the fact that 
such employment is an education to the angels, and a channel of 
rich comfort to mortals. The celestial beings desire to look into 
the things which accompany salvation, and their vision becomes 
keener and clearer through frequent visits to earth, where they 
bow over penitent sinners and praying saints. 

—Cardinal Newman. 


Saint Isidore was once a farmer’s lad 
In sunny Spain, and for his master had 
One called Da Vargas, stern and hard of heart,- 
Exacting service to the utmost part. 

All day toiled Isidore, nor stayed his hand 
Till darkness fell along the fertile land; 

Only at dawn, on pious thoughts intent, 

The duteous boy to early matins went. 

One day a jealous fellow-servant bore 
A tale of falsehood to the master’s door: 
“Good sir, look well to Isidore,” quoth he, 
“Who wastes your time in well-feigned piety.” 

Wroth, to the field next morn Da Vargas strode 
As from the chapel, swift along the road 
Came Isidore, a form of youthful grace, 

The peace of heaven upon his radiant face. 


- 153 - 


154 


SHALL FIND HIS LABOR SWEET. 


“Haste, laggard!” cried the churl, in angry tone, 

“Nor hope your idle practices unknown! 

For mark you well! he earns the scourge who dares 
To make my plowing wait upon his prayers.’’ 

When lo! a plow, held by an angel’s hand, 

And drawn by snow-white horses, cut the land 
From end to end, in furrow straight and clean— 

No mortal eye had e’er such marvel seen! 

Da Vargas’ scoffing lips grew white with dread; 

Trembling, “Who helps you, Isidore?” he said. 

The lad—perceiving not—“I work alone,” 

Replied, “save God’s aid have I none.” 

The other spake, “Beseech Him then for me, 

Who did you wrong!” and sank upon his knee: 

“Since heaven itself has stooped to till my field, 

To heaven I vow, this day, the harvest yield!” 

Thus runs the legend—still for every time 
Holding the secret of a life sublime: 

Who prays and works shall find his labor sweet, 

While unseen powers the mutual task complete. 

—Mary A. P. Stansbury. 


‘‘METHINKS I AM ALL ANGEL.” 


Hpril 10. 


And Oman turned back and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid them¬ 
selves.—I Chronicles 21:20. 


NGEL. This word answers to the Hebrew “malach”— a 



** messenger. In Scripture we frequently read of missions 
and appearances of angels, sent to declare the will of God, to 
correct, teach, reprove, or comfort. God gave the law to Moses, 
and appeared to the Patriarchs, by the mediation of angels, who 
represented Him, and who spoke in His name. Origen, Bede, and 
others think that angels were created at the same time as the 
heavens, and that Moses included them under the expression: 
“In the beginning God created the heavensothers suppose that 
they are intended under the term “light,” which God created on 
the first day; while some are of the opinion that they were created 
before the world, which seems countenanced by Job 38:47. Many 
of the fathers, led into mistake by the book of Enoch, and by a 
passage in Genesis 6:2, imagined that angels were corporeal, and 
capable of sensual pleasures. —Edward Robinson, D. D. 


There ’s half an angel wrongM in your account; 
Methinks I am all angel, that I bear it 
Without more ruffling. 


—Tennyson. 


My fancy formed thee of angelic kind, 
Some emanation of th’ all-beauteous mind. 


—Pope. 


Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber, 
Holy angels guard thy bed, 


Heavenly blessings without number 
Gently shower on thy head. 


—Anonymous. 


-155- 


BRIGHTER THAN FLAMING CHARIOT. 


Bpril U. 

And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath 
thereof.—I Chronicles 21:27. 

T HERE are different names applied to them — cherubim, 
seraphim, thrones, dominions, principalities and powers. It 
is profitless, however, to attempt to delineate the grades of pre¬ 
cedence which they occupy. It is not right to speak of angels 
and archangels, for there is only one archangel mentioned in the 
Bible. He was the Michael who contended with Satan about the 
body of Moses. There is no other personage mentioned with that 
rank or that title. — C. Robinson, D. D. 

All the multitudinous forces of the universe are with God’s 
people, and against His enemies. And God has promised that 
they shall work good to those that love Him. 

One soul in panoply of heaven 
Is stronger than their host; 

The cause which God befriends cannot 
Outnumbered be, or lost. 

Brighter than flaming chariot, 

Stronger than fiery horse, 

All heaven is marshaled on your side, 

God and the universe. 

—Homer N. Dunning. 

A long bright flame is trembling like the sword 
Of the great Angel at the guarded gate 
Of Paradise, when all the sacred groves 
And beautiful flowers of Eden-land blushed red 
Beneath its awful shadow. 

—Whittier. 

Ye blessed angels! if of you 
There be, who love the ways to view 
Of kings and kingdoms here, 

(And sure, ’tis worth an angel’s gaze, 

To see, throughout that dreary maze 
God teaching love and fear.) 


-156- 


—John Keble. 


AN ANGEL’S GAZE. 


Hprtl 12 . 


And David could not go before the tabernacle to enquire of God; for he was afraid 
because of the sword of the Angel of the Lord.—I Chronicles 21:30. 


DYING Christian soldier requested the nurse to bring two 



/i cups of water, one for himself and another for his friend, 
who, he said, had come a long distance, and must he tired. The 
startled nurse said: ‘ ‘ I do not see anybody here.’ ’ ‘ ‘ Don’t y ou 
see him ? ’ ’ said the soldier, pointing into the vacant air. ‘ ‘ There 
is someone standing by the bedside.” Soon the soldier’s freed 
spirit and its angel escort sped towards the deathless land. 


—Bishop Foster. 


High the angel choirs are raising, 
Heart and voice in harmony; 


The Creator King still praising, 
Whom in beauty there they see, 


—Thomas a Kempis. 


When in my childhood’s morning I rested ’neath the shade 
Of the citron or the almond tree, with fruits and blossoms weighed, 
While the loose curls from my forehead were lifted by the breeze, 
Which like a spirit haunteth each living thing it sees; 

Then in those golden hours a whisper soft and light 
Stole on my senses, thrilling each pulse to wild delight: 

’Twas not the perfumed zephyr, the dream of pipes’ low swell, 
The tones of cherished kindred, or the distant village bell: 

Oh, no, my guardian Angel, that music in the air 

Was but the viewless pinions that hovered round me there. 


—Lamartine. 


- 157 - 


SHINING ANGEL BANDS. 


aprii 13. 


And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the 
chariot of the cherubim, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant 
of the Lord.—I Chronicles 29:18. 


HE shining light between the cherubim, on the mercy seat, 



1 was called “the glory of the Lord,” being a supernatural 
representation of His presence in the sanctuary. Three of the 
apostles saw the same glory with the shining angel bands upon 
the mount of transfiguration, and all believers have seen it by 
faith. The word “glory” in the anthem of the angels refers to 
the divine honor and praise resulting from the humiliation of 
Christ. Angels delighted to bear the joyful news to men. 


—Christmas Evans. 


There is a great contrast in the treatment of pictorial angels 
between early and modern art. In the art of the earlier centuries 
the angels are depicted without wings. The ancients saw no 
reason why the angels should have wings, so their artists gave 
them none in their pictures. The modern angels with wings 
represent a complete transformation of ideas on the subject. 


—Prof. Lowrie. 


But now and then, truth-speaking things 
Shamed the angels’ veiling wings. 


—Ralph Waldo Emerson. 


With sudden anger, Hassen looked around, 

And saw an angel standing on the ground, 

With wings of gold and robes of purest white. 
U I am God’s messenger, employed to write 
Within this book the pious deeds of men. 

I have revised thy reckoning; look again.” 


-r-Johu Godfrey Saxe. 


-158- 


ONE DREAM OF SONG. 


Bprtl 14, 


I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his 
right hand and on his left.—II Chronicles 18:18. 



HE idea of the heavenly host of angels includes operations 


1 of God in the vast movements of the universe, and his min¬ 
istrations through the spirits of men, whether now or hereafter. 
It includes that ideal world to which the greatest of heathen phil¬ 
osophers fondly looked as the sphere in which reside the great 
ideas, the perfect images, of which all virtue and beauty are but 
the imperfect shadow. It includes the thought of that peculiarly 
bright and lovely type of Christian character to which, for want 
of any other word, we have in modern times given the name as 
angel or angelic—superhuman, yet not divine; not heroic, nor 
apostolic, nor saintly, yet exactly what we call seraphic, elevating, 
exalting, with the force of inherent nobleness and beauty. “He 
who has seen in men and women/’ says Luther, “a greatness 
without art or effort penetrating the whole nature through and 
through, he has seen for himself the colors wherewith he may 
paint for himself what is meant by an angel.” 


—Dean Stanley. 


This angel form the gifted artist saw 

That held me in his spell. ’Twas his to draw 

The veil of sense. 


—Washington Allston. 


And far in that world’s bright glory, 
With God’s bright angel throng, 


Beyond the gates of Paradise, 
Where all is one dream of song. 


—Hamilton Gray. 


-159- 


THE AMARANTHINE WREATH. 


Hprtl 15. 


And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the 
leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.—II Chronicles 32:21. 


NGELS and archangels, cherubim and seraphim and all the 



glorious hosts of heaven were a fruitful source of inspira¬ 
tion to the oldest painters and sculptors whose works are known 
to us. The Old Testament represents the angels as an innumer¬ 
able host, discerning good and evil by reason of superior intelli¬ 
gence, and without passion, doing the will of God. Having the 
power to slay, it is only exercised b} r the command of the 
Almighty; and not until after the Captivity do we read of evil 
angels who work wickedness among men. In fact, after this time 
the Hebrews seem to have added much to their angelic theory and 
faith in celestial guardians. —Clement. 


’Twas at thy door, 0 friend, and not at mine, 

The angel with the amaranthine wreath, 

Pausing, descended; and, with voice divine, 

Whispered a word, that had a sound like death. 

Angels of Life and Death alike are His; 

Without His leave they pass no threshold o’er; 
Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this, 
Against His messengers to shut the door 1 ? 


—Longfellow. 


His glorious face, which glisteneth so bright, 

That the angels’ selves cannot endure His sight. 


—Spencer. 


-160 - 



GUARDIAN ANGEL 


Fahmoth 


(See page 242) 





























KITCHEN ANGELS 


























ASPIRING TO BE ANGELS. 


HprU 16. 

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the 
Lord, and Satan came also among them.—Job 1:6. 

H OW merciful art Thou, 0 Lord, that Thou thinkest us not 
safe enough in our weak and slender walls, but Thou sendest 
Thine angels to he our keepers and guardians. 

• —Ambrose. 

It is better to think that there are guardian spirits than that 
there are no spirits to guard us. —Sir Thomas Browne. 

As a simple matter of fact, angels do make much appearance 
in the Bible, New Testament as well as Old; they do discharge 
important duties; they are invested with immense powers for 
the work they have to do, and there is not one single word even 
to suggest that, having done their work and served their day, they 
are run off the scene. So far from this being the case, the imme¬ 
diate and necessary service of angels to the individual believer 
is much more distinctly and seriously impressed in the New 
Testament than in the Old. —Rev. T. Mozley. 

The last order is that of the angels. The word means messen¬ 
ger, and is common to all the heavenly spirits, since they are all 
employed to notify of the Divine thoughts. To this office the 
higher angels add certain prerogatives from which they derive 
their peculiar names. The angels of the last choir of the last 
hierarchy, adding nothing to the ordinary occupation of envoys, 
retain the simple name. They more directly and intimately watch 
over the two-fold life of man. 

Tasso, languishing in his prison, has visions of angels, and 
Petrarch was not oblivious of their beauty in his dreams of Laura. 
Goethe sings of them in the second part of Faust. Spencer sees 
their 4 ‘ golden pinions cleave the flitting skies like flying pursui¬ 
vants.’ 9 — M. 


183 - 


162 


THERE IS A LAND OF PEACE. 


Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes: 

Men would be angels, angels would be gods: 

Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, 

Aspiring to be angels, men rebel. 

—Pope. 


There is a land of peace, 
Good angels know it well; 
Glad songs that never cease 
Within its portals swell: 
Around its glorious throne 
Ten thousand saints adore 
Christ, with the Father One 
And Spirit evermore. 


— Sir Henry W. Baker. 


LOVES OF THE ANGELS. 


Hpril 17. 


Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the 
Lord.—Job 2:1. 

T HE disposition to look away from the personality of the 
angels and concentrate attention on their ministry runs more 
or less through the whole Old Testament angelology. It is indeed 
certain — to pass to the second side of the doctrine — that the 
angelic figures of the Bible narrative are not mere allegories of 
divine providence, but were regarded as possessing a certain 
superhuman reality. Most characteristic of the nature of angels 
is the poetical title, 4 ‘Sons of God” (Bne Elohim), which, in 
accordance with the idiomatic force of the word, 1 ‘ sons, ’ 9 may be 
paraphrased, ‘ 4 beings who, in a subordinate way, share something 
of the divine majesty.” —Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

Besides the chief spirits of the Mahometan heaven, such as 
Gabriel, the Angel of Bevelation, Israfil, hv whom the last trumpet 
is to be sounded, and Azrael, the Angel of Death, there were also 
a number of subaltern intelligences of which tradition has pre¬ 
served the names, appointed to preside over the different stages, 
or ascents, into which the celestial world was supposed to be 
divided. Among other miraculous interpositions in favor of Ma¬ 
homet, we find commemorated in the pages of the Koran the ap¬ 
pearance of five thousand angels on his side at the battle of Bedr. 
The ancient Persians supposed that Ormuyd appointed thirty an¬ 
gels to preside successively over the days of the month, and twelve 
greater ones to assume the government of the months themselves; 
among whom Bahman was the greatest. It appears, from the 
Zendavesta, that the Persians had certain office or prayer for 
every day of the month, addressed to the particular angel who pre¬ 
sided over it, which they called the SirouyA The Celestial Hier¬ 
archy of the Syrians, as described by Kircher, appears to be the 
most regularly graduated of any of these systems. In the sphere 
of the Moon they placed the angels; in that of Mercury, the arch¬ 
angels; Venus and the Sun contained the principalities and the 
powers; and so on to the summit of the planetary system, where, 

-163- 


1(54 


WORSHIP OF FEMALE ANGELS. 


in the sphere of Saturn, the thrones had their station. Above 
this was the habitation of the cherubim in the sphere of the fixed 
stars; and still higher, in the region of those stars which are so 
distant as to be imperceptible, the seraphim, we are told, the most 
perfect of all celestial creatures, dwelt. The Sabeans also had 
their classes of angels, to whom they prayed as mediators or in¬ 
tercessors; and the Arabians worshiped female angels, whom 
they called Benad Hasche, or daughters of God. 

— Thomas Moore. 

Unblessed thy hand! if in this low disguise 
Wanders, perhaps, some inmate of the skies. 


—Homer. 


ANGELS FEAR TO TOBAD. 


Bprtl IS. 


Behold! he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly. 

—Job 4:18. 

J T appears probable that angels are witnessing the whole his- 
1 tory of this world; and that, with reference to their con¬ 
tinual instruction. There has been a grand struggle between 
light and darkness, truth and*error, going on from the beginning 
of time to the present hour, most instructive even to angels. There 
was a struggle in the case of the angels who kept not their first 
estate, and those who did keep it, and thus remained faithful, were 
witnesses of it. But that struggle was very short. The tale 
might soon be told. For, though we take our poetry from Milton, 
yet we are not to take our theology from him. We are not to think 
there was a great war in heaven, a long contest between light and 
darkness. Where there is no dispensation of grace, sin is im¬ 
mediately followed by punishment; long suffering belongs not to 
law. Angels found that the day in which they sinned brought 
the stroke of Divine vengeance, and they at once sank into the 
abodes of darkness. Who does not see that the whole history of 
the world goes to the establishment of two points, the folly as well 
as the wickedness of rebellion against God, and the wisdom as 
well as piety of holy submission to Him. 

—Rev. Richard Watson. 

There is no finality of attainment for us either here or here¬ 
after. The angels have not reached it. Let the angel be arrested 
at the line of his present life and achievement, and he becomes a 
transgressor. All holiness consists in endless, unresting move¬ 
ment towards God. Stagnation in the high and holy things of 
the present is a crime against the eternal law of heaven. If God 
charges the angels with folly, how deep the self-humiliation we 
are called to cultivate! God’s own image, and that alone, is the 
ideal by which we must be content to measure ourselves. He 
would have us copy nothing else, not even the angels. 

—T. G. Selby. 


-165 - 


166 


I YEARN TO BREATHE THE AIR OF HEAVEN. 


Fools rush in where angels fe # ar to tread. 


—Pope. 


Thou who dost dimness mark 
In heaven’s resplendent way, , 

And folly in that angel host 
Who serve Thee night and day. 

—Lydia H. Sigourney. 

I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven 
That often meet me here 


And stricken by an angel’s hand, 

This mortal armor that I wear, 

This weight, and size, this heart and eyes, 
Are touch’d, are turn’d to finest air. 


— Tennyson. 



SYMPHONIES OF ANGELS. 


Bpril 19. 


When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for Joy. 

—Job 38:7. 

A ND the symphonies of the angels swept along the star shores ot 
the universe, increasing in majesty and power, until the 
heaven of heavens became a sea of ecstatic praise. 

—Anonymous. 

It has been said of William Blake that he “created the most 
perfect, tremendous and dramatic types of angelhood that have 
ever been given to the world, as accurately shown as though they 
had stood in Blake’s little chamber while he drew.” The man 
himself, like Fra Angelico, believed that they did. With a firm 
hand he pictured how “the morning stars sang together and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy.” —Isabel McDougal. 

William Blake’s illustration of this text is famous for the 
unusual character of the angels. His adoring angels float rather 
than fly, and with their half-liquid draperies, seem about to dis¬ 
solve into light and love; and his rejoicing angels—behold them 
sending up their voices with the morning stars, that, singing, in 
their glory move. —Mrs. Jameson. 

Oh, heaven, how changed, how pale, how dim! 

Since first arose the choral Hymn, 

That hailed, at thine auspicious birth, 

A dawning paradise on earth; 

On that sublime creative morn, 

That saw the infant planet born, 

How swelled the harp, the lyre, the voice, 

To bless, to triumph, to rejoice. 

How kneeling rapture led the song, 

How glowed the exultant cherub throng, 

When the fair orb, arising bright, 

Sprang into glory, life and light. 

—Mrs. Hemans. 


Oh, where resides the soul of song? 
Say, where may it be found? 

- 167 - 


m “AND OH, THAT MAN HIS HEART MIGHT TUNE.” 

Does it swell with the joyous angel throng? 

Does it live on enchanted ground? 

•* * * * #- *- 

The soul of the merry song doth dwell 
In all this little earth; 

’Twas given us by the “morning stars”— 

*Tis of celestial birth. 

And oh, that man his heart might tune 
To join the mighty choir, 

And loudest sing the praise of Him 
Whom angels most admire:— 

That when the world has passed away, 

The morning stars may sing, 

As they retake the soul of song 
With souls from earth may bring. 

—Effie May Rarnney. 


\ 


ANGEL HEART OF MAN. 


april 20. 


Tor thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with 
glory and honour.—Psalms 8:5. 

A NGELS are called in the Scriptures spirits, a word which is 
also used to designate the souls of men when separate from 
the body. —Hodge. 

Why the angels should be set before us as patterns of obedi¬ 
ence, we can see in some measure; since we know that we are one 
day to be joined to them, and made “equal to the angels,’’ filling 
up, as St. Anslem conceives, the vacancies which rebellion had 
caused in their ranks. — Karslake. 

There is a point of view from which the nature of man tran¬ 
scends that of angels, since (1) it is a direct transcript of the Di¬ 
vine (Gen. 1:27); and (2) it is the nature which the Son of God 
assumed (Heb. 2:16). —P. C. 

The Lord, my Maker, forming me of clay, 

By His own breath the breath of life conveyed; 

0 ’er all the bright new world He gave me sway, 

A little lower than the angels made. 

—St. Theophanes. 

What a piece of work is man! how 
Noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form 
And moving how express and admirable! in action 
How like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! 

The beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! 

—Shakespeare. 


All that hath been majestical 

In life or death since time began, 

Is native in the simple heart of all 
’ The angel heart of man. 

—Lowell. 


The brutes beneath, 

The angels high above us, with ourselves, 

Are but compounded things of mind and form. 

In all things animate is therefore 
An elemental sameness of existence; 

For God, being Love, in love created all, 

As He contains the whole and penetrates. 

Seraphs love God, and angels love the good. 

—Philip James Bailey. 

- 169- 


ALL FOE LOVE AND NOTHING FOR REWARD. 

Spril 21. 


The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth 
them.—Psalms 34:7. 

T HE passage is very rich in meaning; for the verb signifies, 
4 ‘ to pitch a camp; ’ ’ and the Greek notsejxpeXkGo occurring in 
the Septuagint as a translation of this, is one used by the Greek 
writers in general to express the disposition of an army. From 
this it is evident that not only the angel of the Lord, but his ac¬ 
companying hosts, are near to the dwelling of the righteous, be¬ 
held only by their Maker and those who are with them—it is 
true—but invested with a merciful power to ward off our spirit¬ 
ual foes, to retard the child of God in his path till the overhanging 
ruin has fallen, or to hasten him along, as they did Lot and liis 
family out of Sodom, that he may pass before it falls. 

—Rawson. 

The ministry of angels is a consoling subject. These blessed 
spirits, the inhabitants of the upper regions, does the great God 
employ for His church and people and they are ever at work, 
though unseen in their behalf. These heavenly agents are in¬ 
visible to us, and work insensibly; we cannot perceive them, or 
their way of working by any of our bodily senses, therefore 
are they but little counted upon; but if the blessed God would 
please to open the eye of faith, as he did the bodily eyes of the 
prophet Elijah’s servant (II Kings 6:17), we should plainly 
see, that when we are most forsaken there are more for us than 
are against us, all the angels—these intelligent, potent, active, 
agile spirits, that inhabit the empyreal heaven, are sent forth by 
God into this world, to minister here, for their sakes especially, 
that are heirs of salvation. —Richard Saunders, 1701. 

The angels of the Lord are ever found 
Encamped about the soul that looks to Him: 

They are an inner lamp when all is dim without,— 

Even, as a myriad sunbeams hour by hour 
Melt to make each one little summer flower; 

Or as a myriad souls of flowers fleet 
Awake to make a single summer sweet— 

So many angels make one smile of God 
That feeds your life transfiguring from its clod. 

—Gerald Massey. 

- 170 - 


ANGELIC POWERS. 


Bprtl 22. 


Let them he as chaff before the wind; and let the Angel of the Lord chase them. 

—Psalms 35:5. 

T HE ministry of angels, or that they are employed by God 
as the instruments of His will, is very clearly taught in 
the Scriptures. The very name, as already explained, shows 
that God employs their agency in the dispensations of His Prov¬ 
idence. And it is further evident from certain actions which are 
ascribed wholly to them (Matt. 13:41); and from the Scriptural 
narratives of other events, in the accomplishment of which they 
acted a visible part (Luke 1:11, Acts 5:19); that their agency 
is employed principally in the guidance of the destinies of man. 
In those cases also in which the agency is concealed from our 
view, we may admit the j)robability of its existence; because we 
are tauglit that God sends them forth ‘‘ to minister to those who 
shall be heirs of salvation. ’ ’ But the angels, when employed for 
our welfare, do not act independently, but as the instruments of 
God and by His own end; not unto them, therefore, are our con¬ 
fidences and adoration due, but only unto Him whom the angels 
themselves reverently worship. — Kitto. 

To weary hearts, to mourning homes, 

God’s meekest angel gently comes: 

No power has he to banish pain, 

Or give us back our Lost again; 

And yet in tenderest love, our dear 
And Heavenly Father sends him here. 

—Whittier. 

Did we know heaven’s Might 

Servant and succor to Him? plumed bands 

Of Presences invisible intent, 

Upon His lightest sighing, loyally 

To go and come, bearing Him embassage? 

—Sir Edwin Arnold. 

Cherubim, with clasping wings, 

Ever about us be, 

And, happiest of God’s happy things, 

There’s love for you and me! 

—Gerald Massey. 

-171- 


NOTES ANGELICAL. 


Bprtl 23. 


Let their way he dark and slippery; and let the An^el of the Lord persecute them. 

—Psalms 35:6. 

O LD age seems to forecast the qualities which shall find their 
sphere in angels’ work. The old person delights in see¬ 
ing the game of life, or any of the needful contests of men, brave¬ 
ly and nobly played. Now and then he will catch a prevision of 
another function of angels, when they get permission to whisper 
thoughts to man. He hears two drowning men clinging to a bit 
of bulwark broken from the wreck, and of one offering to let go, 
that the other, who had a wife and family, might have a better 
chance of life. It was some angel, his instinct tells him, that 
whispered to the helmsman of the rescuing boat his straight 
course to that floating spar; and his dearest dream it is, that he 
may himself be given charge to do such angel work as this. It 
has struck me how curiously well the conditions of life in old age 
are adapted to serve as the threshold for entering the angel world. 
Self, that formerly nearly shut out the heavens, and filled the 
center of our field of vision, has drawn to the edge of this field 
now, and is disappearing, as a planet passes out of a telescopic 
view. Herein we gain an approach to the angels, for the highest 
perfection with them is to know nothing of self. 

—Eev. H. Latham. 

0 limed soul, that struggling* to be free, 

Art more engaged! Help, Angels! Make assay! 

—Shakespeare. 

In joy and sadness, 

In mirth and gladness 
Come signs and tokens: 

Life’s angel brings 
Upon its wings 
Those bright communings 
The soul doth keep— 

Those thoughts of heaven 
So pure and deep. 

—Robert Nicol. 

-172- 


TRUST LESS TO EARTHLY THING'S. 


173 


For the great eye that sees us never sleeps; 

It has its ministering angels wheresoe’er 
Existence is beneath us, and above, 

Around us, and within us, He has there His delegates. 

—Lord Byron. 

The fall thou darest to despise, 

May be the angel’s slackened hand 
Has suffered it, that he may rise 
And take a firmer, surer stand; 

Or trusting less to earthly things, 

May henceforth learn to use his wings. 

—Adelaide A. Proctor. 


w 




MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS. 


Hprtl 24. 


The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels.—Psalms 68:17. 


HE chief official function of angels is to serve in the courts of 



1 heaven. They are called the chariots of God; the chariots 
of God are thousands of angels. That is, they are the chariots of 
His will, they bear His will about to every part of the universe. 
This is their delight. They bless God, who vouchsafes thus to 
employ them. But when they have fulfilled God’s message, then 
they return back to Him by whom they were sent forth. They 
return back to Him and stand before Him, drinking in fresh 
streams of life and strength and purity and joy from His pres¬ 
ence. —Hare. 

That angels visit us at all, implies a popular recognition of the 
truth of the Scripture doctrine regarding them; that they are dis¬ 
tinct and most real order of creatures, and that they are in per¬ 
sonal relation to us. There is some confusion in it, as in most 
popular sayings: for it is evident that it refers to what goes on 
at present, that it is not a dry fact of history dug out for the pur¬ 
pose of illustration; and yet as for visible angelic appearances, 
we know of none since the days of the Apostles, and cannot say 
whether they are as rare as in the days of old. Their numbers 
are touched with vagueness. According to Rabbis there is noth¬ 
ing in the world without an angel, not so much as a blade of 
grass; and the great Aquinas held that there were more angels 
than all substances together, celestial and terrestrial, animate 
and inanimate. Nor is this to be wondered at if, as the Chagigali 
says, hosts of new angels are created every morning out of the 
stream of fire which is the breath of God (Dan. 7:10; Ps. 33:6). 
Adams has it that /‘the Roman Catholics allot a particular tutelar 
angel to every college and corporation; they appoint to the pope 
two principal Seraphims, Michael and Gabriel ever attending his 
person.” There is a closer approximation to the number that 
have fallen, but the calculation suggests the fanciful arithmetic 
in Mr. Longfellow’s Kavanagh. “So many angels as fell from 


- 174 - 


BESIDE GOD’S THRONE. 


175 


heaven, so many souls shall ascend to heaven.” This was Greg¬ 
ory’s thought, that the number of the elect would repair the 
breach in heaven; and he of the old Puritans with the richest 
imagination catches the fancy from him, and writes: ‘ 1 They lost 
a number of spirits; they are glad to have it made up with souls. ’ ’ 
If it is true that “angels are bright still, though the brightest 
fell, ’ ’ then the redeemed would also be the brightest creatures in 
heaven supplying the place, not of the inferior but the superior. 
Herbert boldly claims that pre-eminence for men: 

11 To this life things of sense 
Make their pretense; 

In th’ other Angels have a right of birth; 

Man ties them both alone, 

And makes them one, 

With th’ one hand touching heav’n and th’ other earth.” 

And to some it might occur that man who, on earth is made a 
little lower than the angels, will in heaven judge angels. (Ps. 8:5; 
1 Cor. 6:3.) — W. Fleming Stevenson. 

’Tis written that the serving angels stand 
Beside God’s throne, ten myriads on each hand, 

Writing, with wings outstretched and watchful eyes, 

To do their Master’s heavenly embassies. 

Quicker than thought His high commands they read, 

Swifter than light to execute them speed; 

Bearing the word of power from star to star, 

Some hither and some thither, near and far. 

And unto these naught is too high or low, 

Too mean or mighty, if He wills it so. 


—Edwin Arnold. 


DIET OF ANGELS. 


aptfi 25. 

Man did eat angels’ food: He sent them meat to the full.—Psalms 78:26. 

jp A STING is the diet of angels. —Lowth. 

But when we shall have got to heaven, shall we hear the Word 
and eat and drink with Him as the angels do now? Do the angels 
need hooks and interpreters and readers f Surely not. They read 
in seeing, for the truth itself they see, and are abundantly satis¬ 
fied from that fountain, from which we obtain so few drops. 

—Augustine. 

This was manna coming from heaven, where angels dwell. 

—Strong. 

The question as to the food of angels has been very much dis¬ 
cussed. If they did eat, we can know nothing of their actual food; 
for the manna is manifestly called 4 ‘ angels* ’ ’ food merely by way 
of expressing its excellences. The only real question, therefore, 
is whether they feed at all or not. We sometimes find angels, in 
their terrene manifestations, eating and drinking (Gen. 18:8; 
19:3); but in Judges 13:15, the angel who appeared to Manoali 
declined, in a very pointed manner, to accept his hospitality. The 
manner in which the Jews obviated the apparent discrepancy, 
and the sense in which they understood such passages, appear 
from the apocryphal book of Tobit (12:19), where the angel is 
made to say: “It seems to you, indeed, as though I did eat and 
drink with you; but I use invisible food which no man can see. ’ ’ 
But Milton, who was deeply read in the “angelic” literature, 
derides these questions. — Kitto. 

To whom the angel: Therefore what He gives 
(Whose praise be ever sung) to man in part 
Spiritual, may of purest spirits be found 
No ungrateful food: and food alike those pure 
Intelligential substances require, 

As doth your rational; and both contain 
Within them every lower faculty 
Of sense, to be sustained and fed. 


-176- 


—Milton. 



THE HOLY NIGHT 

(See page 243) 









) 


> 


) 



HOLY FAMILY 

(See page 242) 


Kraus 



















HEAVENLY EMBASSIES. 


Hprfl 26 , 


He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation and trouble, by 
sending evil angels among them.—Psalms 78:49. 



ERTAINLY there is nothing clearer or more striking in the 


Bible than the calm, familiar way with which from end to 
end it assumes the present existence of a world of spiritual beings 
always close to and acting on this world of flesh and blood. It 
does not belong to any one part of the Bible. It runs through its 
whole vast range. From creation to judgment the spiritual beings 
are for ever present. They act as truly in the drama as the men 
and women who, with their unmistakable humanity, walk the 
sacred stage in the successive scenes. There is nothing of hesita¬ 
tion about the Bible ’s treatment of the spiritual world. There is 
no reserve, no vagueness which would leave a chance for the whole 
system to be explained away into dreams and metaphors. The 
spiritual world, with all its multitudinous existence, is just as real 
as the crowded cities, and the fragrant fields and the loud battle¬ 
grounds of the visible and palpable Judaea in which the writers 
of the sacred books were living. —Phillips Brooks. 

Angel; name of an old English half sovereign in gold; so 
called because, at one time, it bore the figure of the archangel 
Michael slaying the dragon. When the Rev. Mr. Patten, vicar 
of Whitstable, was dying, the Archbishop of Canterbury sent him 
£10. The wit said, “Tell his Grace that now I am sure he is a 
man of God, for I have seen his angels.” 

Angels, say the Arabs, were created from pure, bright gems; 
the genii, of fire; and man, of clay. Angels, according to Diony¬ 
sius the Areopagite, were divided into nine orders: 

(1) Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones, in the first circle. 

(2) Dominions, Virtues, and Powers, in the second circle. 

(3) Principalities, Archangels and Angels in the third circle. 

“In heaven above, move” 

The effulgent bands in triple circles. The seven holy angels are: 

- 177 - 


178 


GLORY BE TO GOD ON HIGH. 


Abdiel, Gabriel, Michael, Ragnel, Raphael, Samiel, and Uriel. 
Michael and Gabriel are mentioned in the Bible, Raphael in the 
Apocrypha. Milton (Paradise Lost, Book 1, from 392) gives a 
list of the fallen angels. 

The Angelic Hymn, the hymn beginning with ‘ 4 Glory be to 
God on high,” etc. (Luke 2:14), so called because the former part 
of it was sung by the angel host that appeared to the shepherds 
of Bethlehem. —Rev. E. Cobham Breuer, LL. D. 

There burning- desolation blazes, 

Precursor of the thunder’s way; 

But, Lord, Thy servants own with praises 
The milder movement of Thy day. 

The sight gives angels strength, though greater 
Than angels’ utmost thought sublime; 

And all Thy wondrous works, Creator, 

Are glorious as in Eden’s prime. 

—Goethe. 



EXULTANT CHEEUB THRONG. 


Hprtl 27, 


Give ear, 0 Shepherd of Israel. Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine 
forth.—Psalms 80:1. 



HAT 1 Christian should not feel a desire to know the nature 


V V of the cherubim! When we sing the Ambrosian anthem, 
we dwell with special emotion of heart on the words: “The 
cherubim and seraphim and all angels serve Him.” As long as 
the nature of the cherubim is concealed from us, a whole series 
of Scriptural passages is inaccessible to us. The cherubim occur in 
the Old Testament no less than eighty-five times. They meet us in 
the very page of revelation: the cherubim and the flame of the 
blazing sword repel the parents of our race from the tree of life. 
In the tabernacle and in the temple of Solomon the cherubim 
receive an important place. The grand visions of Ezekiel are 
sealed to us, if we have not learned the nature of the cherubim. 
In the Psalms God appears enthroned on the cherubim, as the 
firm ground for the confidence of His people, and whosoever will 
be a partaker of this confidence must all know what the cherubim 
are to signify. Even in the New Testament the holy enigma of 
the cherubim meets us. —E. W. Hengstenberg, D. D. 

In reference to Genesis 3:24, some make the admission that it 
does not contain the angelic doctrine. Taking it by itself the 
admission may be justified. But when taken in connection with 
other Scriptures which speak of the cherubim in the heavenly 
state as another of beings next in rank to the seraphim, the pas¬ 
sage is not without value. Then in the very outset we meet with 
beings who glow with heavenly light and heavenly love. A cherub 
is something more than a figure of different forms. As a figure 
the external form of an idea, so here the cherubim with sword 
in hand imply living angels, holy and intelligent, whom God 
employs to keep the way of the tree of life. That tree of life is 
Christ, and only intelligent beings can keep, guard and defend 
the way of this tree. . . . These, then, are holy intelligences 
dwelling in the immediate presence of their Lord, and our Lord. 
This sublime truth that angels dwell with and accompany our 


-179- 


180 


“TO THEE ALL ANGELS CRY ALOUD.” 


Lord is of frequent occurrence. By reading the Scripture narra¬ 
tives and studying the character and activity of these Maleakim it 
becomes quite clear that they are intelligent beings, not residents 
of our earth, but of heaven—possessing greater strength than 
men,* yet obedient to the will of God. 

— Rev. Moses Kieffer, D. D. 


To Thee all angels cry aloud; 

To Thee the Powers on high, 

Both cherubim and seraphim, 

Continually do cry. 

—St. Ambrose. 

A throne of pure and solid splendor framed 
On which the Monarch of Immensity, 

With such intolerable brightness flamed, 

That none of all the purest standers-by 
Could with cherubic or seraphic eyes, 

His vast erradiations comprise. 


—Beaumont. 


APPLES OF PARADISE. 


2lpril 28. 


For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways; they shall 
bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.—Psalms 91:11. 

T HE Italian artist shows ns the child passing near the preci¬ 
pice, then draw near a gentle guardian spirit. The unseen 
friend rolled along the pathway apples of Paradise; and the 
child, following after with shouts of glee, was lured from danger. 
To the beauty of the artist’s thought Homer’s story adds elements 
of instruction. When the Grecian hoy was pursued by a giant 
whose breath was fire, whose hand held a large club, two invisible 
beings lent help. One took the boy’s hand and lifted him forward; 
the other, casting an invisible cord over him, flew before him, until 
his speed was doubled, and the palace gates gave shelter. Oh, 
beautiful story of God’s gentle rule o’er men. . . . Let us, 

with Lowell, confess that Death, once disguised as an executioner, 
has dropped the iron mask and stands revealed as an angel in 
disguise—God’s seraph, come for man’s release and convey. Thus 
the grave is the shutting of angel’s hands, that they may safely 
keep the treasure and convey it to the other side. When the little 
child, the sweet mother, the poet or statesman falls asleep, should 
we look up with Dante we would see i ‘ a divine chariot sweeping 
through the heavenly confines, its pathway well-nigh choked with 
flowers.” —Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D.D. 

Angels, where'er we go, attend 
Our steps, whatever betide; 

With watchful care their charge defend, 

And evil turn aside. 

Our lives those holy angels keep 
From every hostile power; 

And unconcerned, we sweetly sleep, 

As Adam in his bower. —Charles Wesley. 

’Tis your office, spirits bright, 

Still to guard us night and day; 

And before your heavenly might 
Powers of darkness flee away; 

Ever doth your unseen host 
Camp around us, and avert 
All that seek to do us hurt, 

Curbing Satan’s malice most. 

Lord, who then can worthily 

For sueh goodness honor Thee? —Bist. 

- 181 - 


CREATURES PURE AND BRIGHT. 


Bptil 29. 

The Lord reigaeth; let the people tremble; he sitteth between the cherubim; let the 
earth be moved.—Psalms 99:1. 

T HE beings of whom the cherub is composed belong to these 
creatures of the visible world that form the upmost and high¬ 
est of its three kingdoms—the kingdom of organic life; and in 
this kingdom, again, they belong to the highest class, to that 
which has warm blood, and therefore the highest physical life; 
and in this class they are again the highest. The cherub is 
far from being a figure of God Himself; or the contrary, its 
essential character is to be a creature: it is a figure of the creature 
in its highest stage—an ideal creature. The living powers dis¬ 
tributed in the visible creation to the highest creatures are com¬ 
bined and idealized in it. The whole creation is combined 
in it as in a point in one being; it represents in so far also 
the whole creation, and stands naturally of all the creatures near¬ 
est to God : only God is above it. The cherub, as creation indi¬ 
vidualized, is at the same time the being in which the glory of God 
manifests itself. Hence it appears as the throne of God itself, 
or in the closest connection with the throne: where Jehovah in 
His majesty and glory reveals Himself, there the cherub also 
appears. — Bahr. 


Whence come ye, cherubs? from the moon 
Or from a shining star? 

Ye sure are sent, a blessed boon, 

From kinder worlds afar; 

For while I look, my heart is all delight; 

Earth has no creatures half so pure and bright. 

— Richard Henry Dana. 

God glanced on chaos—into form it sprang— 

Worlds clustered round Him, instant at His will— 

The angels gazed with wonder, orb on orb 
Swept past their vision, shedding fitful gleams 
Upon their jeweled brows and glittering wings, 

And trilling, as they wheeled along their flight, 

Pathways of splendor, till the boundless space 
- 182 - 


MUSIC OF THE STARS. 


183 


Flashed in a web of gorgeous brilliancy. 

But when Omnipotence had formed His robe, 

And cast its spangled blazonry round heaven, 

The countless myriads of those shining ones 
Their wonder changed to awe, bowed crown and harp, 
Before the dazzling brightness. Then, as stole 
The first low music of the singing stars, 

Melting along the stillness, rank on rank, 

The proud archangel in his majesty, 

And the pure seraph in his loveliness, 

Leaping erect, poured from the quivering string 
Their anthem of the Holiest, till heaven’s air, 

Stirred by the diapason of the hymn, 

Rolled on an ocean of deep billowy sounds. 


—Milton. 


MARVELS OF THE HOLY ANGELS. 


april 30. 

Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, 
hearkening unto the voice of his word.—Psalms 103:20. 

I T WOULD be long to recount all the marvels which theology 
teaches of the holy angels, of the might of their power, the 
breadth of their intelligence, and the fervor of their love. They 
are our elder brothers, the earlier family of God. The various 
kingdoms of their hierarchies lie before us, in species inconceiv¬ 
ably diversified. Their graces, their powers, their gifts, their 
operations, their work—all are different, the one class from the 
other. By them they are distinguished into hierarchies and those 
again into choirs, and the choirs into species; and by them also 
they are grouped into congenial multitudes of similar beauty, 
power and office. —Faber. 

The obedience of the angels is absolutely perfect, and that 
with perfection of both parts and degrees. 

—Bishop Hopkins. 

There rests beyond the ken of mortal eye, 

The Great Supreme within the light-crowned sky; 

There circle round His unseen, mystic place 
Bright angels, beaming with seraphic grace. 

Around His throne the ever-swelling strains 
Far echo on the rolling, cloudy plains; 

While cherubs float in liquid, glowing day, 

And gild their wings in heaven’s resplendent ray. 

There angels waft their brightness through the glow, 

Decked with pure robes that shame ethereal snow; 

While from their eyes a quiet peace doth shine, 

Rivaling all but living light Divine. 

—Thomas A. Davies. 


-184- 










WORSHIP AND SURPRISE. 

flDai? 1. 

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire.—Psalms 104:4. 

A NGELS! With regard to their essence or nature, they are 
all spirits,—not material beings, not clogged with flesh and 
blood like ns; hut having bodies, if any, not gross and earthly 
like ours, but of a finer substance, resembling fire or flame more 
than any of the lower elements. And is not something like this 
intimated by the Psalmist? As spirits, he has endowed them with 
understanding, will, affections, and liberty. —Wesley. 

0 God, who can doubt that You could create spirits without a 
body? Or is there need of a body that one might understand, 
love, and be happy? You who are Yourself so pure a spirit—are 
You not incorporeal and immaterial? Are not intelligence and 
love spiritual and immaterial operations which can be exercised 
without the need of a body? Who doubts, then, that You could 
create intelligencies of this kind? And You Yourself have not left 
us in doubt, but have revealed Yourself and the existence and 
nature of angels to us. — Bossuet. 

Ye holy angels bright 

Who stand before God’s throne, 

And dwell in glorious light, 

Praise ye the Lord each one! 

Ye there, so nigh 
Are much more meet 
Than we, the feet, 

For things so high. 

—Baxter. 

Yet being pregnant still with powerful grace, 

And fruitful love that loves to get 
Things like himself, and to enlarge his race, 

His second brood, though not of power so great 
Yet full of beauty, next he did beget 
An infinite increase of angels bright 
All glistening glorious in their Maker’s light. 

—Edmund Spenser. 


187- 



KNEELING, RAPTURE LED THE SONG. 

flDas 2. 


Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts.—Psalms 148:2. 


E MAY consider that vast unnumbered host generally 



vv designated as the ministering angels. Viewed in refer¬ 
ence to God ’s sendee and praise they are a flaming fire; in regard 
to their office, winged messengers. But not only so: every day 
ministering angels are created, whose apparent destiny is only 
to raise the praises of God, after which they pass away into the 
fiery stream whence they originally issued. —Edersheim. 

If the notes of distant music wafted on the air to the ear can 
reach and melt the heart and lift it from earth to heaven, as they 
often do, why cannot angelic whispers do the same? If the sigh¬ 
ing of every evening zephyr can move the strings of the heart, 
and produce a concord of the tenderest and loveliest feeling, why 
cannot unseen angelic influences do what is thus done by “the 
viewless spirit of a lovely sound?” —Slack. 

A beautiful scrap of instruction out of old rabbinical lore tells 
us that there are in heaven two kinds of angels—the angels of 
service and the angels of praise. The latter are of a higher order 
than the former. No one of them praises God twice, but having 
once lifted up his voice in the song of heaven, he ceases to be. He 
has perfected his being. His song is the full flower and perfect 
fruit of his life, that for which he was made. He has now finished 
his work, and his life is breathed out in his one holy psalm. 
There is in this delightful fancy a deep truth, that the highest 
act of which an immortal life is capable is praise. The unpraising 
life has not yet realized its holiest mission. It has not yet borne 
the sweetest, ripest, best fruit, that which in God’s sight is most 
precious of all. In heaven all life is praise, and we come near 
heaven’s spirit only when we learn to praise. 


-Dr. J. R. Miller. 


Have you read in the Talmud of old, 

In the Legends the Rabbins have told 
Of the limitless realms of the air— 
Have you read it—the marvelous story 
Of Sandolphon, the angel of Glory, 
Sandolphon, the angel of Prayer? 


-188- 


IN ITS HUMAN WAY. 


189 


How, erect, at the outermost gates 
Of the City Celestial he waits 
With his feet on the ladder of light, 

That, crowded with angels unnumbered, 

By Jacob was seen as he slumbered 
Alone in the desert at night? 

The angels of Wind and of Fire 
Chant only one hymn and expire 
With songs’ irresistible stress; 

Expire in their rapture and wonder, 

As harp-strings are broken asunder 
By music they throb to express. 

—Longfellow. 

Rabbi Jehosha used to say 
That God made angels every day, 

Perfect as Michael and the rest 
First brooded in creation’s nest, 

Whose only office was to cry 
Hosanna! once, and then to die; 

Or rather, with life’s essence blent, 

To be led home from banishment. 

’Twere glorious, no doubt to be 
One of the strong-winged Hierarchy, 

To burn with seraphs, or to shine 
With cherubs, deathlessly divine; 

Yet I, perhaps, poor earthly clod, 

Could I forget myself in God, 

Could I but find my nature’s clue 
Simply as birds and blossoms do, 

And but for one rapt moment know 
’Tis heaven must come, not we must go. 

Should win my place as near the throne 
As the pearl-angel of its zone, 

And God would listen ’mid the throng 
For my one breath of perfect song, 

That in its simple human way 

Said all the Host of Heaven could say. 

R. Lowell. 


WATCHFUL CARE. 


/Bias 3 


Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel that 
it was error.—Ecclesiastes 5:6. 


EMEMBER that no spirit can by itself reach into our minds 



1 \ —that is, supposing it to have no assistance from our body 
or its own. No spirit can so mingle with us, and be poured into 
us that we become in consequence good or learned. No angel, no 
spirit can comprehend me; none can I comprehend in this manner. 
Even angels themselves cannot seize one another’s thoughts with¬ 
out bodily organs. This prerogative is reserved for the highest, 
the unbounded Spirit, who alone, when he imparts knowledge to 
either angel or man, needs not that we should have ears to hear, 
or that we should have a mouth to speak. —St. Bernard. 

Angels are not omniscient, like Him who is seated upon the 
throne, the Lord both of angels and of men, yet their knowledge 
is very great. It is as the ocean, whilst ours is as the small and 
circumscribed lake. It is as the sun that has been shining for 
thousands of years, while ours is the candle that burns for awhile 
and goes out. The youngest heaven must be, at the least, nearly 
six thousand years old, whilst man upon the earth is but the 
creature of a day. Angels can fly through the whole glorious 
realms of heaven, nay, the whole boundless universe, as well as 
up and down among the nations and the homes of earth, whilst 
we are circumscribed by miles. Angels see the heavens spread 
around them in all their glory and magnificence. They see the 
earth spread out like a visible panorama beneath them; they 
know the value of the human soul, and the preciousness of Christ’s 
blood. The angels feel that they belong to the same family in 
which believers are numbered. —Heaven and Home. 


Ever so low, ever so gently, 
Whispers the angel in mine ear, 


Teaching me still, chiding me never; 
Heaven itself is brought more near. 


—Quintelert. 


- 190 - 


LOVE DIVINE. 


flDag 4. 


I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the 
temple. Above it stood the seraphim.—Isaiah 6:1, 2. 



HE seraphim proceed from God, as flames proceed from a 


1 furnace; and their circles surround Him as with a fiery 
blaze. The cherubim are the rays of the divine wisdom, and are, 
so to say, the eyes of God, under which he seems to regard Him¬ 
self and all the external world. The thrones are the image of His 
sanctity. This hierarchy expresses the three great perfections 
we adore in God, — namely, His love, His knowledge, and His 
holiness. These testify also these beautiful operations of grace, 
whereby God draws to Himself intelligent beings: (1) Detaching 
them from creatures by His love; (2) enlightening them inte¬ 
riorly by His heavenly wisdom; and (3) making His throne in 
their hearts and abiding there forever. —Oliver. 


Among the spirits, of pure flame, 

That in the eternal heavens abide— 
Circles of light, that from the same 
Unclouded center sweeping wide, 

Carry its beams on every side— 

Like spheres of air that waft around 
The undulations of rich sound, 

Till the far-circling radiance be 
Diffused into infinity! 

First and immediate near the throne 
Of Alla, as if most his own, 

The seraphs stand—this burning sign 
Traced on their banner, “Love divine!” 

Their rank, their honors, far above 
Ev’n those to high-browed cherubs given, 
Though knowing all;—so much doth love 
Transcend all knowledge, ev*n in heaven! 


—Thomas Moore. 


He heard the mighty new-made song, to angel-hosts unknown, 
Go up like incense unto Him that sat upon the throne; 

And the pure strains of seraphs song in that celestial sphere 
In sweetest cadence rose and fell upon his listening ear. 


—Anonymous. 


And there are seraphs singing in the glorious better land, 

Whose heart-beats kept, while here on earth, the peace of yours and mine. 


—Anonymous. 


- 191 - 


WINGS, THE ANGELIC SYMBOL. 

/IDap 5. 


Each seraph had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered 
his feet, and with twain he did fly.—Isaiah 6:2. 

T HE seraphim immediately surround the throne of God, and 
are ever lost in adoration and love, which is expressed in 
their very name,—“seraph,” coming from a Hebrew root, mean¬ 
ing love. Wings are the distinctive angelic symbol, and are 
emblematic of spirit,. power, and swiftness. The Greeks some¬ 
times represent Christ with wings, and call Him the Great Angel 
of the Will of God. There is, no doubt, Scriptural authority for 
representing angels’ wings in the most realistic manner, since 
David says, “they had wings like a fowl.” Infinitely beautiful 
and consistent are the nondescript wings which the early painters 
gave their angels, and which are so vividly described by Milton: 

“Where the bright seraphim in burning row 
Their loud uplifted trumpets blow, 

And the cherubic host in thousand choirs 
Touch their immortal harps and golden lyres/’ 

And again Milton sings: 

“A seraph winged—six wings he wore to shade 
His lineaments divine: the pair that clad 
Each shoulder broad, came mantling o’er his breast 
With regal ornament; the middle pair 
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round 
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold 
And colors dipp’d in heaven; the third, his feet 
Shadowed from either heel with feather’d mail, 

Sky-tinctured green. ’ ’ 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 

These things the seer Isaiah did befall: 

In spirit he beheld the Lord of all 

On a high throne raised up in splendor bright, 

His garment’s border filled the choir with light. 

Beside Him stood two seraphim, which had 
Six wings, wherewith they both alike are clad; 

With twain they hid their shining face, with twain 
They hid their feet as with a flowing train, 

And with the other twain they both did fly. 

—Martin Luther. 

A quire of seraphs, chanting row on row, 

With lute and viol and high trumpet notes; 

And, above all, their soft young eyes aglow— 

Child angels, making laud from full clear throats. 

—Sir Lewis Morris, 


-192- 


» 



Hofmann 

FLIGHT INTO EGYPT 


(See page 247) 






































ADORING SERAPHIM. 


/IBag 6. 

And one seraph cried unto another: Holy! Holy! Holy! is the Lord of hosts; the 
whole earth is full of his glory.—Isaiah 6:3. 

I NSTEAD of the carved representations of the cherubim of 
glory fixed on the mercy seat, the prophet beholds the seraphim 
themselves, living and all ardor, activity and adoration; they 
are not represented in the vision as the cherubim in the holiest 
of all, silently gazing on the glory of God and the mysteries of 
His covenant, but as hymning His praises, proclaiming His spot¬ 
less purity. —Rev. Richard Watson. 

The occupation of the seraphim was two-fold—to celebrate 
the praises of Jehovah’s holiness and power, and to act as the 
medium of communication between heaven and earth. From the 
antiphonal chant (“one cried unto another”) we may conceive 
them to have been ranged in opposite rows on each side of the 
throne. As the seraphim are nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, 
our conception of their appearance must be restricted as Scrip¬ 
ture, etymology and analogy will supply. 

—Dr. William Smith. 


There the Triune Deity! 

Whom adore the seraphim 
Aye with love eternal burning; 

Venerate the cherubim 

To their font of honor turning, 

While angelic thrones adoring 
Gaze upon His majesty. 

— Thomas a Kempis. 

And my mind throngs with shining auguries 
Circle on circle, bright as seraphim, 

With golden trumpets, silent, that wait 
The signal to blow news of good to men. 

—J. R. Lowell. 


Yet a Tamer shall be found! 

One more bright than Seraph crowned, 
And more strong than cherub bold, 
- 193 - 






194 


“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD!” 


Elder, too, than angel old, 

By his grey eternities. 

He shall master and surprise 
The steed of Death. 

—E. B. Browning. 

It is not when man’s heart is nighest heaven 
He hath most need of Servant-Seraphim— 

Albeit that height be holy, and God be still .... 

Nay, but much rather when one, fleet as earth, 

Knows not which way to grovel, or where to flee 
From the overmastering agony of Sin. 

—F. W. H. Myers. 


And higher, in the ambient air, 

A shining Presence undefined: 

Swift seraphs stooping swift as wind 
From pole to pole, and that vast throng 
Which peopled Dante’s world of song. 

—Sir Lewis Morris. 


Seraphs cry by day and night, 

Each to each the three-fold word: 

Chanting far in upper light, 

“Holy, holy, holy Lord!” 

We, beneath our lower skies, 

Dull of ear, of eyesight dim, 

Sometimes catch with sweet surprise, 
Echoes of that wondrous hymn. 

Then a light falls on our heart, 

We forget our sin and wrong; 

Spirit-fraught, we bear a part, 

In that three-times holy song. 

“Holy, holy, holy Lord!” 

All our soul adoring cries; 

Then on earth we wound the chord, 
Seraphs strike in Paradise. 


—Mary C. Gates. 


HOPE SEES THE STAR. 


fll>a£ 7* 

Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had 
taken with the tongs from off the altar.—Isaiah 0:6. 

S ERAPHIM (from the Hebrew) means burning or flaming, 
because of their excess of the love of God, and hence are 
called the flaming seraphim. These represent the love of God: 
that infinite, unconquerable, undying love. And these are put in 
the highest place, as created representations of that wonderful 
attribute, the charity of God towards Himself. In their relation 
to the subordinate orders also, the fiery zealots are fitly placed 
first, for nothing so represents the power of attracting others 
towards God as the being on fire one’s self with love of God. 
Jesus said, “I came to cast fire on the earth.” 

—Rev. R. O’Kennedy. 

From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead, there comes 
no word; but in the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening 
love can hear the rustle of the wing. —Robert J. Ingersoll. 

And with the full life of consummate heaven 
Heaving beneath him like a mother’s breast 
Warm with her first-born’s slumber in that nest! 

******** 

0 Seraph, pause no more! 

Beside this gate of heaven we stand alone! 

—Mrs. Browning. 


The seraphs—they are men of kindly mien; 

The gems and robes but signs 
Of minds more radiant and of hearts washed clean 
The glory, such as shines 
Wherever faith, or hope, or love is seen. 

—Anonymous. 


- 195 - 


RADIANT IN ROBES OF LIGHT. 


/!Cmv> 8. 


And the seraph laid a live coal upon my mouth, and said: Lo, this hath touched 
thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged.—Isaiah 6:7. 

T HE eighth of May is held sacred by the Catholics on account 
of the three apparitions or appearances of St. Michael. 

—George Soan. 

The meaning of the word 4 ‘seraph” is extremely doubtful; 
the only word which resembles it in the current Hebrew is 
“saraph,'” “to burn,” whence the idea of brilliancy has been 
extracted. —Hr. Smith. 

If the dear Lord would send an angel down, 

A seraph radiant in robes of light, 

To do some menial service in our streets, 

As braying stone, we’ll say, from morn till night, 

Think you the faintest blush would rise 
To mar the whiteness of His holy face? 

Think you a thought of discontent would find 
Within His perfect heart abiding place? 

I love to think the sweet will of his God 
Would seem as gracious in a seraph’s eyes 
In the dark, mny, crowded lanes of earth 
As in the ambrosial bowers of Paradise; 

That those fair hands which lately swept the lyre 
Would not against their holy work rebel, 

But as they ever wrought His will in heaven, 

Would work it here as faithfully and well. 

—Anonymous. 

But the seraphs ever strong, 

Night and day untiring sweep 
Every chord of that great song, 

High as heaven—deep as the deep. 

So for me the Angel-choir, 

Worships God upon the throne! 

Cherubs with their hearts of fire, 

Praise the Father, Spirit, Son! 

Yet one note no angel chants, 

Sing I this, though last it be,— 

' And though mortal weakness faints— 

“Jesus, Jesus, died for me!” 


I 


— — 


—Mrs. Yates. 


THEY FOR US FIGHT. 


/Iftap 9. 

Then the Angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a 
hundred and four score and five thousand.—Isaiah 37:36, 

W HEN we read that “He maketh His angels spirits” we at 
once perceive that we have to do with spiritual, and not 
corporeal beings. That they are great in power and might—for 
a temporary period, indeed, greater in power and might than the 
sons of men—can he readily ascertained by a reference to the 
whole tenor of the Scripture. They are great in power, because 
they are to assist man against other spirits more powerful than 
he; they are greater in glory and authority, because they have 
not, like us, “lost their first estate.” They are unfallen—they 
are in a condition of pristine splendor; and if we look forward 
to a period when we shall be placed in a higher position than that 
which they occupy, we must clearly see the superior dignity con¬ 
ferred upon our nature by our Lord’s assumption of humanity, 
concerning whom we are told that “He took on Him the nature 
of angels.” —Christmas. 

Two blessed gifts from Heaven to earth are sent,— 

Knowest thou, my heart, each sister angel’s name? 

One is calm Friendship, robed in white content; 

The other, rosy Love, with heart of flame. 

-J. F. C. 


But he, the brother-angel of the day. 

Bore on his breast the beaming star of hope, 

And in his golden chalice balm, alway 
On bruised hearts to drop. 

—John Macfarlan®. 


- 197 - 


HIS PRESENCE SAVED THEM. 


flDas 10. 

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them. 

—Isaiah 63:9. 

W E REJECT the Bible when we reject angels, for they are 
woven into the very warp and woof of the revered pages. 
From our first glimpses of the angels in the opening pages of 
Genesis to their final appearance in Revelation, they become to 
us more and more gracious and lovely presences, and the belief 
in their existence—instead of being hazy and flitting semblances 
from some misty border-land—are rather glorious, moving per¬ 
sonalities. As we think and ponder over their beauty, power, 
purity, wisdom, songs, employments, and the winsomeness of their 
affections, we grow more and more in love with them; and a 
sacred desire, begotten of the Holy Spirit, inspires us to imitate 
them, although we may not with our physical eyes have looked 
upon their glorious morning faces or watched the brightness of 
their silvery forms as did Lot, and Hagar, and Peter, and the 
Mother of Jesus. And tell me! Have we not pleasant memories 
of those happy occasions when in the sanctuary we sung with 
glad voices of those bright spirits that were hovering over us, and 
we heard, as Robert Ingersoll expressed it at his brother’s grave: 
“The rustle of a wing.” —Alfred Fowler. 

There are who like the Sear of old 
Can see the helpers God has sent, 

And how life’s rugged mountain side 
Is white with many an angel tent. 

They hear the heralds whom our Lord 
Sends down His pathway to prepare; 

And light from others hidden, shines 
On their high place of faith and prayer. 

—Whittier. 


Lord make my heart a place where angels sing! 

For surely thoughts low-breathed by Thee 
Are angels gliding near on noiseless wing; 

And where a house they see 
— 10S — 


THEY ENTER IN AND DWELL. 


199 


Swept clean, and garnished with adoring joy, 

They enter in and dwell, 

And teach the heart to swell 
With heavenly melody, their own untired employ. 

—Keble. 


A sound of music, such as they might deem 
The song of spirits, that would sometimes sail 
Close to their ear, a deep, delicious strain 
******* 

The sun was slowly sinking to the west, 

Pavilioned with a thousand glorious dyes; 

The turtle-doves were winging to the nest 
Along the mountain’s soft declivities; 

The fresher breath of flowers began to rise, 

Like incense, to that sweet departing sun; 

Faint as the hum of bees the city’s cries: 

A moment, and the lingering disk was gone; 

Then were the angels’ tasks on earth’s dim orbit done. 

—George Crowly. 


RELIGION A LIVE COAL. 


/Idas 11 


As for the likeness of the living creatures, this appearance was like burning coals of 
fire, and like the appearance of lamps: and it went up and down the living creatures. 

—Ezekiel 1:13. 


HE seraphim are fiery beings, burning with the fires of love, 



1 and hence burning messengers of a burning love. Yet with 
all the seraph’s purity, and though he was burning himself with 
love and glory, yet he was not worthy one of the coals of fire 
kindled by God to purge away sin, burning upon heaven’s sacri¬ 
ficial altar. Religion is a live coal—it is life, not a body,* a life, 
not forms; a living, burning love. Do you love Jesus? The 
seraph with the tongs took a live coal from the altar. Fire is the 
most inexplicable, the profoundest symbol and part in the annals 
of the universal cosmos. Let God but unstable His fiery horses, 
and they will paw the mountains into cinders; but even then, 
hitched to the car of redemption, would roll us up to God. 


—Watson. 


There were the cherubim instinct with eyes; 
And there the crowned elders on their thrones, 
Encircling with a band of starry light 
The everlasting throne of God; and round, 
Wave after wave, myriads of flaming ones 
From mightiest potentates and ’mid degrees, 
Unto the least of the angelic choirs. 


--Anonymous. 


He sent no angel to our race, 

Of higher or of lower place, 

But wore the robe of human frame, 
And He Himself to this world came. 


—William H. Gladstone. 


- 200 - 


\ 


GRADATIONS IN HEAVEN. 


rtDag 12 


Then I looked, and behold in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim 
there appeared, over them as it were, a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness 
cf a throne.—Ezekiel 10:1. 



HERE is a difference between the seraphim and the cherubim. 


1 In Isaiah 6 is the only place in the Bible where the seraph 
is mentioned. Angels in various offices are frequently spoken of, 
and the cherubim carry the throne in Ezekiel’s vision, but near¬ 
est to the Divine person and glory stand seraphs. The word 
seraphim means literally “burning ones.” All afire, they stand 
unconsumed in the fires of God’s glory. We do not know that they 
are the highest order in the ranks of heaven, but we think so. 
Some of the Rabbis say that the seraphim love most, and the 
cherubim know most. If this is the difference between these two 
orders, then the seraphim are higher than the cherubim. The 
Bible reveals nothing more clearly than that there are gradations 
in the ranks of heaven’s magnificent hierarchy. — Muncey. 


The helmed cherubim and sworded seraphim, 

As seen in glittering ranks with wings displayed, 

Harping in loud and solemn choir 

With inexpressive notes to heaven’s born heir. 


—Milton. 


Sing the Doers of the Word 
Whom angel wings have fanned 


And filled with love and joy unheard 
To scatter through the land. 


—Anonymous. 


201- 


WORSHIPERS OF BEAUTY. 


/iDap 13. 

And the sound of the cherubim’s wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice 
of the Almighty God when he speaketh.—Ezekiel 10:5. 

T HE cherubim were ideal creatures, intended to represent the 
perfections of the Godhead, as exhibited in the highest 
forms of animated being and with more completeness than pos¬ 
sessed by any other creature existing. — Fairburn. 

We may observe that the idea of winged human figures was 
not peculiar to the Hebrews. The wings imply deification for 
speed and ease of motion stand, in man’s imagination, among the 
most prominent tokens of divinity. 

—Dr. William Smith. 

Infinitely more beautiful and consistent are the nondescript 
wings which the early painters gave their angels: large—so large 
that when the glorious creature is at rest, they drop from the 
shoulders to the ground; with long, slender features, eyes some¬ 
times like the peacock ’s train, he dropped with gold like the pheas¬ 
ant’s bread tinted with “colors dipp’d in heaven’’ — they are 
really angel wings, not bird wings. —Mrs. Jameson. 

The angels do the will of God willingly and cheerfully, and 
therefore they are described to be winged to show that they fly 
about it. —Hopkins. 


Cherubim with clasping wings, 

Ever about us be, 

And, happiest of God’s happy things, 

There’s love for you and me! 

—Gerald Massey. 

And in the sweeping of the wing, your ear 
The passage of the angel’s wings will hear, 

And on the lichen-crushed leads above 
The rustle of the eternal rain of Love. 

—Matthew Arnold. 


- 202 — 


MAN’S HOPE AND YEARNINGS CLING. 


203 


If the Celestials daily fly 
With messages on missions high, 

And float, our masts and turrets nigh, 
Conversing on heaven’s great intents; 
What wonder hints of coming things, 
Whereto man’s hope and yearning clings, 
Should drop like feathers from their wings 
And give us vague presentiments. 


—Jean Ingelow. 


CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM. 


/ifcay 14. 

And the cherubim were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river 
Chebar.—Ezekiel 10:15. 

C HERUBIM. By this name are denoted the winged creatures, 
which, in the religious symbolism of the Old Testament, are 
not infrequently mentioned as attending upon the Most High, and 
as possessed of certain sacred duties in the court of the heavenly 
beings that surround the throne of God. What the Hebrew con¬ 
ception of a cherub was does not appear at all certain. And if, 
as seems most probable, both name and thing were derived from 
a primitive stage of religious thought. In the Old Testament we 
find references to the cherubim (1) in the Israelite version of 
primitive myth; (2) in early Hebrew poetry; (3) in apocalyptic 
vision; and (4) in the descriptions of the furniture and adorn¬ 
ments of the ark, the tabernacle, and the temple. The function of 
the cherubim in Genesis 3:24 is to guard the approach to the 
sacred tree. The number of the cherubim appointed for this duty 
is not mentioned; nor is it stated, as is really supposed, that each 
of the cherubim bore in his hand a flaming sword. We are only 
told that a sword with darting flames was entrusted to them. 

—vScriberner’s B. I). 


Angels ancl Archangels 
May have gathered there; 

Cherubini and Seraphim 
Throng’d the air. 

—Christina Rossetti. 


Higher and higher still, 

More lofty statures fill 
The jasper-courts of the everlasting dwelling; 

Cherubim and seraph pace 
The illimitable space, 

While sleep the folded plumes from their white shoulders swelling 

—Mrs. Hart Milman. 


- 204- 


SPIRITS OF KNOWLEDGE. 


/IDa^ 15. 


This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; 
and I knew that they were the cherubim.—Ezekiel 10:20. 

S PIRITS of knowledge, of 4 ‘The Kerubiim,’’ as the Mussul¬ 
mans call them, are often joined indiscriminately with the 
Asrafil or Seraphim, under one common name of Azazil, by which 
all spirits who approach near the throne of Alla are designated. 
There appears to be, among writers of the East, as well as among 
the Orientals themselves, considerable indecision with regard to 
the respective claims of Seraphim and Cherubim to the highest 
rank in the celestial hierarchy. The derivation which Hyde 
assigns to the word Cherub seems to determine the precedence in 
favor of that order of spirits: ‘ ‘ Cherubim, i. e., Propinqui 
Angeli. ’ ’ A1 Beidawi, too, one of the commentators of the Koran, 
on that passage, ‘ ‘ the angels, who bear the throne, and those who 
stand about it, ’ ’ says: ‘ ‘ These are the Cherubim, the highest order 
of angels. ” On the other hand, we have seen, in a preceding note, 
that the Syrians place the sphere in which the seraphs dwell at 
the very summit of all the celestial systems. 


Who was the second spirit? he 

With proud front and piercing glance, 

Who seemed, when viewing heaven’s expanse, 

As though his far-sent eye could see 
On, on into th’ Immensity 
Behind the veils of that blue sky, 

Where Alla’s grandest secrets lie?— 

His wings, the while, though day was gone, 

Flashing with many a various hue 
Of light they from themselves alone, 

Instinct with Eden’s brightness, drew. 

’Twas Rubi—once among the prime 
And flower of those bright creatures, named 
Spirits ,of Knowledge, who o ’er Time 
And Space and Thought an empire claimed, 

Second alone to Him, whose light 
Was even to theirs, as day to night; 

’Twixt whom and them was distance far 
And wide as would the journey be 
To reach from any island star 
The vague shores of Infinity. 

— Thomas Moore. 

— 205 — 


ANGELS SEE US, THOUGH WE SEE THEM NOT. 


/IDas 16. 

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said: Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed, 
nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him. 

—Daniel 3:38. 

J OAN OF ARC heard these Voices long before she spoke of 
them to her mother. A flood of dazzling, heavenly light gave 
warning to her of their approach. Sometimes these Voices im¬ 
pressed on her wisdom, piety and purity; sometimes they pic¬ 
tured the wounds of France and the groans of her unfortunate 
people. One day, at noon, alone in the garden, under the shadow 
of the Church wall, she distinctly heard a male voice which called 
her by name and said: “Joan, arise; go to the succor of the 
Dauphin; restore to him the Kingdom of France. ’ ’ The heavenly 
brilliance was so dazzling, the voice so distinct, and the command 
so imperative, that she fell on her knees, and pleaded: “How 
shall I do it, for I am only a poor girl, who knows neither how 
to ride nor to lead soldiers V 9 The voice would hear no excuses. 
* * * This first vision made Joan tremble and weep tears of 

anguish, but she still kept it a secret between herself and the 
angels. —Lamartine. 

An angel’s is a fine, tender, kind heart. As if we could find 
a man who had a heart sweet all through, and a gentle will; with¬ 
out subtlety, yet of sound reason; at once wise and simple. He 
who has seen such a heart has colors wherewith he may picture 
to himself what an angel is. They are without pride; they despise 
not us human creatures for our misery. Our dying, sinning and 
suffering is to them a sorrow of heart. —Luther. 

Angels see us though we see them not, they hear us though we 
hear them not; let it not be that they love us though we love them 
not. Whether we love them or not, and even whether we love 
God or not, they love us so long as God loves us; because they 
are lovely, that is, lovelike; and we know who it is whose name 
is Love. —Christina Rossetti. 


- 206 - 


GOD’S ANGELS BREAK THE CHAIN. 


207 


It is a great thought on this subject, that the human race fur¬ 
nishes hut a small part of the holy ministries of this world. The 
ministry of angels probably swells what we call minorities to 
secret majorities. “Are they not all ministering spirits V J In¬ 
visible multitudes probably fill the air with their busy pinions in 
service to the right —Prof. Phelps. 

Not always shall the slave uplift 
His heavy hands to heaven in vain. 

God’s angel, like the good St. Mark, 

Comes shining down to break his chain. 

0 weary ones! ye may not see 
Your helpers in their downward flight, 

Nor hear the sound of silver wings 

Slow beating through the hush of night! 


—Whittier. 


MINISTERS OF GRACE DEFEND US. 

may 17. 

My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the ’ions' mouths, and they have not hurt 
me.—Daniel 6:22. 

W HATEVER assistance God gives to man by men, the same, 
and frequently in a higher degree, He gives to them by 
angels. Does He administer to us by men, light, when we are in 
darkness? joy, when we are in heaviness? deliverance, when we 
are in danger? ease and health, when we are sick or in pain? It 
cannot be doubted that He frequently conveys the same blessings 
by the ministry of angels: not so sensibly, indeed, but full as 
effectually, though the messengers are not seen. Does He fre¬ 
quently deliver us by means of men from the violence and subtlety 
of our enemies? Many times He works the same deliverance by 
those invisible agents. These shut the mouths of the human lions, 
so that they have no power to hurt us. And frequently the angels 
join with our human friends (although neither we nor they are 
sensible of it), giving them wisdom, courage, or strength, without 
which all their labor for us would be unsuccessful. Thus do 
angels minister, in numberless instances, to the heirs of salvation. 

—Wesley. 


And where yon lions glare, preserve from fear, 

Attracts a glittering angel from his sphere. 

—John M. Leavitt. 

Angels and ministers of grace defend us. 

—Shakespeare. 


While Daniel lay beneath the lion’s paws, 

An angel shut the death gates of their jaws, 

Which ere his headlong foes had reach’d the floor, 

Crush’d all their bones, and revel]’d in their gore. 

—Montgomery. 


-208 — 



FLIGHT INTO EGYPT 























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GABRIEL—“HERO OF GOD.” 


/©ag 18 . 

And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called and said: 
Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.—Daniel 8:16. 

T HE meaning of the name Gabriel is “Hero of God,” or 
‘ ‘ Mighty One of God . 99 In the canonical hooks, only two of 
the heavenly ones are mentioned by name, Gabriel (Luke 1:19, 26; 
Daniel 8:16 and 9:21), and Michael, which signifies “Who is like 
God?” (Jude 9; Rev. 12:7; and in Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1). Of 
these two blessed spirits whose names are revealed to us in the 
Word of God, their appointed work seems to be in connection with 
the human race and its enemies. Gabriel is the special messenger 
of good news. He comes to Daniel, and tells him of the restora¬ 
tion of Jerusalem; to Zacharias, and announces the birth of his 
son; to Mary of Nazareth, and foretells. Michael, on the other 
hand, appears as the warrior of God. In the book of Daniel he 
wars with the enemies of the people of the Lord; in Jude and in 
the Revelation of St. John, he is the victorious antagonist of 
Satan, the enemy of the Eternal. The Jews have a striking say¬ 
ing, that Gabriel flies with two wings, but Michael with only one; 
so God is swift in sending angels of peace and joy, of which 
blessed company the archangel Gabriel is the representative, while 
the messengers of His wrath and punishment, among whom 
Michael holds a chief place, come slowly. —P. 0. 


Not Gabriel asks the reason why, 

Nor God the reason gives; 

Nor does the favorite angel pry 
Between the folded leaves. 

* —Watts. 


“Angel, there are no vacant thrones in Heaven 
To suit thy bitter words. Glory and life 
Fulfill their own depletions; and if God 
Sigh’d you far from Him, His next breath drew in 
A compensative splendor up the skies, 

Flushing the starry arteries.” 

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 


-209 


CHIEF OF ANGELIC GUARDS. 


flDag 19. 

Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the 
vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the 
evening oblation.—Daniel 9:21. 

T HE Archangel Gabriel is mentioned by name but twice in the 
Old Testament—in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21. It is believed to 
have been Gabriel who fought with the Angel of the Kingdom of 
Persia for twenty-one days, when Michael came to his relief; and 
Gabriel again visited Daniel to strengthen him and explain 4 4 that 
which is noted in the Scripture truth.” Gabriel’s contest with 
the Angel of Persia is a subject which offers unusual opportuni¬ 
ties in its artistic representation by the great painters of religious 
subjects. Gabriel is reverenced by the Jews as the chief of the 
angelic guards, and the keeper of the celestial treasury. The 
Mohammedans regard him as their patron saint. Lord says: 
4 4 Mohammed, while absorbed in a reverie, a form of divine beauty, 
in a flood of light, appeared to him, and in the name of the 
Almighty said: 4 0 Mohammed! of a truth thou art a prophet 
of God, and I am His angel Gabriel!’ ” 44 This,” says Carlyle, 
44 is the soul of Islam.” Thus he is important in the faith and 
legends of Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans alike. Milton 
may have had the Jewish tradition in mind when he represented 
Gabriel as the guardian of Paradise. 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 

Between these rocky pillars Gabriel sat 
Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night. 

—Milton. 


God spoke to Gabriel, the messenger 
Of mildest death that draws the parting life 
Gently, as when a little rosy child 
Lifts up its lips from off the bowl of milk 
And so draws forth a curl that dipped its gold 
In the soft white—thus Gabriel draws the soul. 

—George Eliot. 


- 210 - 


MICHAEL-“LIKE UNTO GOD.” 


/Idas 20. 


But lo! Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.—Daniel 10:13. 


ICHAEL (like unto God) is the captain-general and leader 



1 V 1 of the heavenly host; the protector of the Hebrew nation, 
and the conqueror of the hosts of hell; the Lord and guardian of 
souls, and the patron saint and prince of the church militant. His 
attributes are the scepter, the sword, and the scales. The arch¬ 
angel Michael is reverenced as the first and mightiest of all created 
beings. It is believed that he will be privileged to exalt the ban¬ 
ner of the cross on the Judgment Day, and to command the 
trumpet of the archangel to sound; it is on account of these offices 
that he is called ‘ ‘ the Bannerer of Heaven. ’ ’ As Lord of Souls, 
it is taught that St. Michael conducted the spirits of the just to 
heaven, and even cared for their bodies in some instances. 


—Clara Erskine Clement. 


The term ‘ 4 archangel ’’ occurs but twice in the New Testament, 
and in both instances it is used in the singular number—1 Thess. 
4:16; Jude 9. Thus the term is evidently restricted to one person, 
called (Jude 9) “Michael,” who, in Dan. 10:13 and 12 :1, is called 
‘ 4 one of the chief princes, ’ 9 and ‘‘ the great prince, ’ ’ and in Kev. 
12:7, is said to have fought with his angels against the dragon 
and his angels. —Hodge. 


On the foughten field, 


Michael and his angels prevalent, 

Encamping placed in guard their watches round. 


—Milton. 


Hail, bright Archangel! Prince of Heaven! 

Spirit divinely strong! 

To whose rare merit hath been given 
To head the angelic throng! 

Our vile-world-frozen hearts bedew 
With thy celestial flame, 

And burn our spirits through and through 
With zeal for Jesus 1 name. 


PRAISE TO THE THREE. 


0 truinpet-longued! 0 beautiful! 

0 force of the Most High! 

The blessed of the earth look dull 
Beside thy majesty. 

Praise to the Three, whose love designed 
Thee champion of the Lord, 

Who first conceived thee in His mind 
And made thee with His Word; 

Who stooped from nothingness to raise 
A life like thine so high, 

Beauty and being that should praise 
His love eternally! 


MESSENGERS OF GOD. 


/H>a£ 21. 


But I will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth; and there is noth¬ 
ing that holdeth with me in these things hut Michael your prince.—Daniel 10:21. 

B UT with respect to the true angels, the faithful followers of 
Orormasdes, who preserved unchanged the purity they de¬ 
rived from the hands of their master, it was evidently impossible 
to paint them in colors sufficiently dazzling. In their appearance 
they were depicted light, radiant, and beautiful; in their min¬ 
istry, they were always benevolent to man,—the messengers of 
good (or, if sometimes the ministers of divine wrath, fulfilling 
their mission with sorrow and with pity). Even the Archangel 
Michael (His Brightness, as Byron calls him), the conqueror of 
the Prince of Darkness himself, and the strictest soldier of the 
heavenly legions, is represented by poets and by painters as pre¬ 
eminently beautiful, with nothing harsh, nothing repulsive in his 
form and features, but downy and beardless as eternal youth. 

“Michael,” writes Dr. Pussey, “is a sort of watchword or 
challenge to all idolatry: Who is like God?” He fought against 
the Prince of Darkness, and his mission seems to have been to 
carry out the Divine decrees. Volumes upon volumes have been 
written by learned men in past centuries upon the subject of the 
Holy Angels, and the obedience, order, and positions of the angels 
are taught in the collect for St. MichaePs Day as a matter of 
express doctrine. In God’s household all are given their exact 
place, their special work, and individual responsibility. 

—From author of “Gabriel the Archangel.” 

It is difficult to clothe in adequate language the divine attri- 
. butes with which painting and poetry have invested this illus¬ 
trious archangel. Jews and Christians are agreed in giving him 
the pre-eminence over all created spirits. All the might, the 
majesty, the radiance of Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Vir¬ 
tues, Powers, are centered in him. In him God put forth His 
strength when He exalted him chief over the celestial host, when 
angels warred with angels in heaven ; and in him God showed 


214 


EXHORTING TO HOLY SONG. 


forth His Glory when He made him conqueror over the power of 
sin, and “over the great dragon that deceived the world.” 

—Mrs. Jameson. 

My white archangel, with thy steadfast eyes, 

Thy firm, close lips, not made for human sighs 
Or smiles, or kisses sweet, or bitter cries, 

But for divine exhorting, holy song, 

And righteous counsel, bold from seraph tongue,— 

Beautiful angel, strong as thou art, wise and strong! 

With looks like thine, 0 Michael, strong and wise, 

My white archangel, with the steadfast eyes. 

—Anna Maria Mulsch. 


ST. MICHAEL’S LITANY. 


flfcag 22. 

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the 
children of thy people.—Daniel 12:1. 

B EYOND the Brittany coast, enisled in its shallow bay, rises 
the Mount of Saint Michael, proudly hearing upon its crest 
what Vaubon calls “earth’s most astonishing building.” Into 
blue heaven soar the brown walls that were laid in the eleventh 
century, half church of God, half fortress “ ’gainst the foe.” The 
tiny houses of the hamlet cling like swallows’ nests to the cliff 
below. To crown the restored tower of the magnificent abbey, 
the sculptor Fremiet has just finished—1901—a colossal statue 
of the archangel Michael in silver armor dight, with a halo of stars 
about his helmeted head. For one of the greatest living artists, as 
Fremiet unquestionably is, to represent an angel according to the 
legends of the church, is a rare thing. Its rarity emphasizes the 
difference between old and modern art. The inhabitants of the 
little hamlet still chant in their little church St. Michael’s litany: 

“0 holy Michael, who curest souls on the pains of 
death, pray for us! 

0 puissant Prince Michael, leader of the armies of 
God, pray for us! 

0 Michael, who overcomes! the Evil One, 

0 Standard-bearer of the Holy Trinity, 

0 Bulwark of the orthodox, pray for us!” 

—Isabel McDougal. 

And the angels of God will thank you 
And bend from their thrones of light, 

To tell you that Heaven rejoices 
At the deed you have done to-night. 

—Adelaide A. Proctor. 


-215- 


EMBASSIES OP JOT. 


UDas 23. 

Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto 
him; he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.—Hosea 12:4. 

( BELIEVE that what Jacob sees at Bethel is still taking place 
in a mystical way. The ladder of Christ’s mediation rests 
upon the earth; the top of it is reaching to the heavens; and 
without intermission, the angels of God are ascending and de¬ 
scending upon it in the missions of watchfulness and love in our 
behalf. The Bible gives us a description of God’s dealings with 
the world during thousands of years; and we are, by many inci¬ 
dental expressions, reminded of the intense solicitude which 
angels feel in what is going on, not in heaven merely, but on the 
earth also. These missions of angels are not to be looked upon 
by us as banishments from heaven, enforced upon them by Him 
who is Lord both of angels and of men. They are, on the con¬ 
trary, willing embassies of joy. 

My listening angel heard the prayer, 

And calmly smiling, said: 

“If I but touch thy silver hair, 

Thy hasty wish had sped.” 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Crown Him the Lord of Love! 

Behold His hands and side,— 

Rich wounds, yet visible above, 

In beauty glorified. 

No angel in the sky 

Can fully bear that sight, 

But downward bends his wondering eye 
On mysteries so bright. 

—Matthew Bridges. 


— 216 — 


VOICES FROM ANGEL LAND. 


jflDag 24. 

Then said I: 0 my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said 
unto me: I will show thee what these he.—Zechariah 1:9. 

T HAT there lives in the presence of God a vast assembly, 
myriads upon myriads of spiritual beings, higher than we, 
but infinitely removed from God, mighty in strength, doers of His 
Word, who ceaselessly bless and praise God; wise, also, to whom 
He gives charge to guard His own in all their ways, ascending 
and descending to and from heaven and earth, and who variously 
minister to men, most often invisibly. All these angels are in¬ 
terested in us and in our well being. They are present with God, 
witnessing the trials of our race. Their love for man is indicated 
by the charge given to them when they are set to destroy the 
guilty in Jerusalem: “Let not your eye spare, neither have 
jjity . 91 There is a distinction, or gradation of ranks, among the 
members of the heavenly host—cherubim, seraphim, archangels, 
principalities, powers. — Pussey. 

Our beautiful bird of light hath fled: 

Awhile she sat with folded wings, 

Sang round us a few hoverings, 

Then straightway into glory sped: 

And white-winged angels nurture her, 

With heaven’s white radiance robed and crowned. 

—Gerald Massey. 

Upon the shore stood the Celestial Pilot, 

Beatitude seemed written in his face, 

And more than a hundred sphits sat within. 

—Longfellow. 


-217- 


SOOTHING EVERY ANXIOUS FEAR. 


/itmy 25. 

And they answered the Angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said: 
We have walked to and fro through the earth and behold, all the earth sitteth still, and 
is at rest.—Zechariah 1:11. 

O F ANGELS we are not to consider only what they are and do 
in regard of their own being, but that also which concerneth 
them as they are linked into a kind of corporation amongst them¬ 
selves, and of society or fellowship with men. Consider angels 
each of them severally in himself, and their law is that which the 
prophet David mentioneth: “All ye his angels praise him.” 
Consider the angels of God as associated, and their law is that 
which disposeth them as an army, one in order and degree above 
another. Consider finally the angels as having with us that com¬ 
munion which the Apostle to the Hebrews noteth, and in regard 
whereof angels have not disdained to profess themselves our 
“fellow-servants;” hence there springeth up a third law, which 
bindeth them to works of ministerial employment. Every one of 
which, their several functions are by them performed with joy. 

—Hooker. 


God called the nearest angels who dwell with Him above; 

The tenderest one was Pity, the dearest one was Love. 

1 ‘ Arise, ’ ’ he said, * 1 my angels! a wail of woe and sin 
Steals through the gates of heaven, and saddens all within. 

My harps take up the mournful strain that from a lost world swells, 
The smoke of torment clouds the light and blights the asphodels. 

Fly downward to that under world, and on its souls of pain 
Let Love drop smiles like sunshine, and Pity tears like rain. ’ ’ 

—Whittier. 


May good angels with evangels 
Glad our slumbers by one gleam 
Of their covering white wings, hovering 
Down the ladder of our dream— 

Hardest pillow soft will seem. 

—Gerald Massey. 

Hark! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, 

Some spirit of the air has waked thy string. 

’Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 

’Tis now the brush of Folly’s frolic wing 
Receding now the dying, numbers sing. 

—Anonymous. 

- 218 - 


NOBILITY’S TRUE BADGE. 


/IDap 26 . 


Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said: 0 Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou 
not have mercy on Jerusalem?—Zechariah 1:12. 



F THE office of angels in heaven we have only vague, pro- 


phetic glimpses which show us nothing hut a never-ceasing 
adoration, proceeding from the vision of God, through the 4 ‘ per¬ 
fect love, which casteth out fear.” Their office toward man is 
more fully described to us. Angels are represented as being 
agents of God *s Providence, natural and supernatural, to the body 
and to the soul. In the subsequent history, that of a chosen nation, 
the angels are represented more as ministers of wrath and mercy, 
messengers of a King rather than common children of the One 
Father. It is, moreover, to be observed, that the records of their 
appearance belong especially to two periods, that of the Judges 
and that of the Captivity, which were transition periods of Israel- 
itish history; the former one destitute of direct revelation or 
prophetic guidance; the latter one of special trial and unusual 
contact with heathenism. —Hr. William Smith. 

Two unveiled faces full of joy looked upward to the Throne, 

Four white wings folded at the feet of Him who sat thereon! 

And deeper than the sound of seas, more soft than falling flake, 
Amidst the hush of wing and song, the Voice Eternal spake: 
“Welcome, my angels! ye have brought a holier joy to heaven, 
Henceforth its sweetest song shall be the Song of Sin Forgiven.” 


— Whittier. 


And I have walked with angels unawares 
And upward mounted, climbing over cares 
A little nearer to the home above. 


—Gerald Massey. 


219 - 


THEIR SERVICE THEIR FELICITY. 


/B>as 27. 

And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and oom- 
fortable words.—Zechariah 1:13. 

I N REGARD to the practical uses of the doctrine of angels, it 
gives us a new sense of the greatness of the Divine resources, 
and of God’s grace in our creation, to think of the multitude of 
unfallen intelligences who executed the Divine purposes before 
man appeared. It strengthens our faith in God’s providential 
care to know that spirits of so high rank are deputed to minister 
to creatures who are environed with temptations and are con¬ 
scious of sin. It teaches us humility, that beings of so much 
greater knowledge and power than ours should gladly perform 
these unnoticed services, in behalf of those whose only claim upon 
them is that they are children of the same common Father. It 
helps us in the struggle against sin to learn that these messengers 
of God are near, to mark our wrong-doing if we fall, and to sus¬ 
tain us if we resist temptation. It enlarges our conceptions of the 
dignity of our own being, and of the boundless possibilities of 
our future existence, to remember these forms of typical inno¬ 
cence and love, that praise and serve God unceasingly in heaven. 

—Strong. 

0 faint hearts, what consolation 
For us here below! 

That angelic ministration 
Guides us where we go. 

-J. F. Waller. 

0 Mother, a beautiful angel, 

In a radiance of white, 

Came floating softly beside me, 

And stood by my bed last night. 

0 Mother, his face was so lovely, 

His presence like sunshine seemed; 

I trembled for fear I should waken 
To find I had only dreamed. 

The beautiful, beautiful angel 
Spoke sweetly in accents of love; 

“Be ready, my darling, I'm coming 
To take thee to JesnR above.” 

* * * * * * 

—Anonymous. 

- 220 - 


INMATES OF THE SKIES. 


/IDag 28. 


And the angel that communed with me said unto me: Cry thou, saying: Thus saith 
the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, 

—Zechariah 1:14. 

T HE angels are an order of spiritual beings, attendants and 
messengers of God, usually spoken of as employed by Him 
in ordering the affairs of the universe, and particularly of man¬ 
kind. They are commonly regarded as bodiless intelligences, but 
in the Bible are frequently represented as appearing to sight in 
human form, and speaking and acting as men. 

— Century Dictionary. 

The obedience of angels is cheerful, not extorted from them 
by violent constraints of fear or of suffering; but it is their eternal 
delight, and their service is their felicity. 

—Bishop Hopkins. 

0 you that speak the language of angels, and should indeed 
be angels amongst us. — Dekker. 

Angels bright and angels fair, 

Chanting their songs of beauty rare, 

Night and sin are never known 
Near the Lord’s resplendent throne. 

—Augustus L. Janson. 

We are not angels, but we may 
Down in life’s corner kneel, 

And multiply sweet acts of love 
, And murmur what we feel. 

—Horatius Bonar, D. D. 

How can that eye, with inspiration beaming, 

Wear yet so deep a look? 0 child of song! 

Is not the music-land a world of dreaming, 

Where forms of sad, bewildering beauty throng ? 

Say by what strain, through endless ether swelling, 

Thou hast drawn down those wonders from the skies? 

Bright angels! even such as left of you their dwelling 
For the deep cedar-shades of Paradise! 

Angels bear up those breathings of devotion, 

Wherein the currents of thy heart gush free; 

Therefore no world of sad and vain emotion 
Is the Angel—haunted music—land for thee. 

—Felicia Dorothea Hemaos. 

- 221 - 


ANGEL COMPANIONSHIP. 


/IDag 29. 

And I said unto the angel that talked with me: What be these?—Zechariah 1:19. 

T HE angels speak one to another. The Scripture uses the same 
word of their conversation that it does to designate human 
speech. The angels can speak to God. They praise His power, 
they extol His majesty, they beseech His clemency, they consult 
His wisdom. In like manner, the angels can speak to men, as the 
archangel Gabriel to Mary. “The Seraphim cried out one to 
another and said, 4 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth’ ” 
(Isa. 6:3). 4 4 If I should speak with the tongues of men and 
angels” (1 Cor. 13:1). 44 When Michael, the archangel, was 

disputing with the devil, he said: 4 The Lord command thee’ ’ 9 
(Jude 1:9). It is related in Zechariah, the angel replied to God 
and said: 4 4 Lord of Armies, how long wilt Thou not have mercy 
on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah?” In the Book of Job, 
Satan is introduced many times as speaking to God. 

—Kennedy. 

He had seen in vision a ladder, reared against the sky, and 
angels ascending and descending on it. Messages of reciprocated 
love might pass between the Father and a simple child, as the 
angels in the dream ascended and descended on the visionary 
ladder. —Rev. F. W. Robertson. 

Till wondering angels were entranced to chime 
With harp and choral tongue, thy strains sublime, 

And bear thy soul beyond the reach of time, 

Heaven’s halls harmonious to adorn. 

Ah, me! could I, with keen angels, scan 
Celestial glories, hid from mortal man, 

I’d deem this night a day supernal! 

Could music, born from some far singing sphere, 

Float sweetly down, and thrill my stricken ear, 
pray this hush night be eternal. 

—Morrison Heady. 


— 222 — 



AGENTS OF GOD. 


flDag 30. 


And behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out 
to meet him, and said unto him: Run, speak to this young man.—Zechariah 2:3. 

B UT besides agencies of natural powers, or providential angels, 
we have reason to infer that there exists in the scale of beings 
a series of created intelligent powers, who are angels, inasmuch 
as they are occasionally agents, from God, towards mankind. 
These in capacity and dignity are vastly superior to ourselves; 
indeed, they are so much our superiors, that in order to render 
them in any degree comprehensible by us their nature, office, etc., 
are illustrated by being compared to what occurs among man¬ 
kind. Thus, if a human prince have his attendants, his servants, 
his guards, this circumstance is taken advantage of, and is em¬ 
ployed to illustrate the nature of celestial angels; and to this 
effect, by way of similitude, and condescending to the conception 
of humanity, angels are represented as attendants, servants of 
God. We know' that God needs no attendants to perform His 
commands, being omnipresent; but being Himself likened to a 
great King, his angels are compared to courtiers and ministers, 
subordinate to Him, and employed in His service. It cannot be 
said: God does not need angels, therefore angels do not exist; 
for God does not need man, yet man exists. 

—Edward Robinson, D. D. 

Thither God will send His winged messengers 
On errands of supernal grace. 

—Milton. 

There are three angel sisters 
That haunt the open sea, 

Three loving, life-like sisters 
Though different they may be. 

But of all the angel sisters 
Who haunt the open sea, 

The fondest and the fairest 
Sweet Saint Charity for me. 

She hath no star nor anchor, 

Nor lofty look hath she, 

But of all the angel sisters 
Sweet Saint Charity for me! 


- 223 - 


—T. D. McGee. 


COURTIERS AND MINISTERS. 

/tt>av? 31. 

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and 
Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.—Zechariah 3:1. 

I N Jud. 9, and 2 Peter 2:11, we are told that: ••“Michael, the 
1 archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about 
the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusa¬ 
tion, but said, 1 The Lord rebuke thee.’ 7 7 The allusion seems to 
be a Jewish legend attached to Deut. 34:6. The Targum of Jon¬ 
athan attributes the burial of Moses to the hands of the angels 
of God, and particularly of the archangel Michael, as the guar¬ 
dian of Israel. Later tradition set forth how Satan disputed the 
burial, claiming for himself the dead body, because of the blood 
of the Egyptian which was on Moses’ hands. The reply of 
Michael is evidently taken from Zach. 3:1, where, on Satan’s 
“resisting” Joshua the high priest, because of the filthy garments 
of this iniquity, “the angel of Jehovah” said unto Satan, “Jeho¬ 
vah rebuke thee, 0 Satan! Is not this a brand plucked from the 
burning?” The spirit of the answer is the reference to God’s 
mercy alone for our justification, and the leaving of all vengeance 
and rebuke to Him; and in this spirit it is quoted by the Apostle. 

—Dr. William Smith. 


Angels our march oppose, 

Who still in strength excel 
Our secret, sworn, eternal foes, 

Countless, invisible. —Charles Wesley. 

Ever round Thy glorious throne, 

Where Thou sittest, Lord! alone, 

Veiled in light and clothed in love, 

Bright adoring angels move. 

They to do Thy bidding wait, 

Honoring Thine awful slate: 

Watchful eyes and folded wings 
Circle Thee, the King of Kings. * 

From the world’s remotest prime, 

Since the earliest hours of time, 

Thou to man hast let them bear 
Proof of Thy undying care. 

Eager for the sweet employ, 

Even in the midst of joy, 

Never so supremely blest, 

As when succoring the distrest. —Dr. J. S. B. Monsell. 

- 224 - 



ANGEL OF THE RESURRECTION 

(See page 269) 




















L. Loffitz 

ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN 

(See page 260) 












June 





























». ) 













































































































































- 











V 


























l 

. 
















































































June. 

THE CREATION OF MAN. 

June l. 

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 

—Zechariah 3:3. 

T HE Talmud asserts that when God was about to create men, 
having previously created innumerable hosts of angels, and 
divided them in various orders (which are afterwards, by some of 
the system-manufacturers, reduced to nine), He sent three angels 
— Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and another—to the earth, to gather 
certain portion of it, in order that it might be made into man; 
that these angels refused to do this, because the earth predicted 
to them that the creature who should be thus made would be re¬ 
bellious against God. At last God sent another angel, who brought 
the earth that was afterwards formed into Adam; and when he 
was made, God called upon all the angelic intelligences to bow 
down and do reverence to the being which bad been thus created. 
That Satan, together with one-third of the host of heaven, refused 
to do so; and in consequence of this, God cast him and those who 
sided with him out of heaven. “ Michael, the prince of the 
people’’ (as he is called in Scripture), was proclaimed the leader 
of the angels who “kept their first estate,” and he immediately 
announced war and carried it into execution against Satan and 
his hosts, which war is continued to the present time. 

—Echoes of the Universe. 

Not mine to guess what shapes those angels wore, 

Not tell what voice they spoke, nor with what grace 
They brought the dear love down that evermore 
Makes lowliest souls its best abiding place. 

—Margaret E, Sangstexvs 


FLOWERS-ALPHABET OF ANGELS. 


June 2. 

So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the 
Angel of the Lord stood by.—Zechariah 3:5. 

A BEAUTIFUL legend says that one day the angel of the 
flowers, the angel whose charge it is to care for the adorning 
of the flowers, lay and slept beneath the shade of a rose-bush. 
Awakening from his sweet repose refreshed, he whispered to the 
rose: 

‘ 1 0 fondest object of my care, 

Still fairest found where all are fair, 

For the sweet shade thou gavest me 

Ask what thou wilt, His granted thee.” 

The rose requested that another grace might be given it. The 
angel thought in silence what grace there was in all his gifts and 
adornments which the rose had not already. Then he threw a 
veil of moss over the queen of the flowers, and a moss-rose hung 
its head before him, most beautiful of all roses. For the Chris¬ 
tian, the grace of gentleness is the crown of all loveliness. 

- J. E. Miller, D. D. 

The flowers are the alphabet of the angels whereby 
They write on hills and fields mysterious truth. 

—Anonymous. 

The angel of the flowers one day, 

Beneath a rose-tree sleeping lay,— 

That spirit to whose charge is given 
To bathe young buds in dews of heaven. 

Awaking from his light repose, 

The angel whispered to the rose: 

11 0 fondest object of my care, 

Still fairest found, where all is fair; 

For the sweet shade thou givest me 
Ask what thou wilt, His granted thee . 11 
“Then,” said the rose, with deepened glow, 

“On me another grace bestow.” 

The spirit paused in silent thought,— 

What grace was there the flower had not? 

’Twas but a moment,—o’er the rose 
- 228 - 


HUMILITY m TRUTH. 


229 


A veil of moss the angel throws; 

And, robed in nature’s simplest meed, 

Could there a flower that rose exceed. 

—Krummacher. 


The angel of the Lord took the flowers 

Out of His garden—pure and passionate joys 
That no sunblasts, and no base worm destroys, 

He found like sweet red roses in the bowers; 

And patient loves that through the silent hours, 

Fair as white lilies, grow apart from noise; 

Themselves on the still air, drinking the showers 
And sunbeams; hopes that caught the sunny hue 
Of heaven’s azure;—but he gathered most 

Of that which men call Failure; where he trod, 

Its thorny strength sprang into life anew. 

“Flowers,” he said shall crown the heavenly host, 

But only thorns are worthy of a God. 

—A. Matheson. 

There is a universal faith with men, 

That flowers that come the harbingers of Spring, 

The pride of Summer, or the jewelry 
That Autumn hangs upon her faded charms, 

Are but an alphabet which angels use 
To bear a mystic language to our souls. 
******* 

The water-lily with its roots in earth 
Breaks through its crystal bed, and leaning down 
Bends on the wave. The spiritual angels 
See in it there “Humility in Truth,” 

For water corresponds to natural truth. 

The lily, as it were, looks down and sees 

The heavens reflected from the bright, smooth water; 

And the celestial angels there see “Faith” 

By correspondence. The whole floral world 
Is eloquent with voices such as these, 

And they are truly uttered. Should I live, 

I will unfold this language. That the young, 

The beautiful, the innocent, may trace 
Their sweet affections in the blooming flowers, 

And learn the reason why their hearts delight 
Is moved and cherished by them. 


—Refus Dawes. 


ANGELS AS DAILY VISITORS. 


June 3. 

And the Angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying: Thus saith the Lord of 
hosts.—Zechariah 3:6. 

S WEDENBORG disdains the role of poet; he did not invent, 
he saw! Angels to him were daily visitors. He insisted 
that all angels were from the human race—perfected, purified, 
enlightened men and women. He was surely happily inspired 
when he divided the angels of heaven into two great hierarchies, 
the celestial and the spiritual; the former being those who arrive 
at truth by love simply and immediately. They greatly excel 
the spiritual angels in dignity, who arrive only mediately through 
the intellect, proceeding from faith to love. Happier are those 
who know by affection, who will to act because they first love! “ To 
the celestial angels the Lord appears as a sun, to the spiritual as 
a moon; ’ ’ to the former as heat, to the latter as light only. 

Swedenborg tells us of angelic occupations in the spiritual 
world. How it was given him once to die, and for hours he felt 
the presence of two angels sitting by his head and conversing with 
him by looking into his face. He tells us how he saw mothers, 
who had died leaving infants behind, given by the Lord the infants 
of mothers still on earth to nurture in grace and intelligence. 
When he visited the hells, powerful angels wreathed themselves 
into a glorious tube through which he penetrated safely into the 
innermost realms of the lost. 

Blake, like Swedenborg, had open vision. He was seer first 
and painter afterwards. “When the sun rises do you not see a 
round disc of fire somewhat like a guinea? Oh! no, no! I see 
an innumerable company of the heavenly host crying, ‘Holy, holy, 
holy, is the Lord God Almighty! ’ ” Afterhisintense imaginings all 
other angelic visions seem unreal and theatrical. His alone are 
convincing. His page from the Book of Job, where with inter¬ 
laced arms and wings “the morning stars sing together, and all 
the sons of God shout for joy,” is, perhaps, the best known. In 
our National Gallery is a pen-and-ink drawing of David’s dream, 
Dantesque in its vehemence and fervid imagination. There exists 


“FAREWELL,” WAS BREATHING ON THE ANGEL’S TONGUE. 231 

iii private hands a most exquisite creation of William Blake’s, 
44 The Infant Jesus Praying to His Father.” Kneeling on a 
spacious bed is the tiny Child at his act of ineffable piety, around 
are grouped mighty winged seraphs in awestruck adoration. It 
is one of those unsurpassable strokes of consummate art that defy 
description. 

—From Essays on 44 Angels in Art and Poetry.” 


The angel’s flashing eyes were on the vault, 

That now with lamps of diamonds all was hung; 

His mighty wings like tissues heavenly-wrought, 

Upon the bosom of the air were hung. 

The solemn hymn’s last harmonies were sung^ 

The sun was crouching on the distant zone; 

“Farewell,” Avas breathing on the angel’s tongue. 

--George Croly. 


PICKED AND PACKED WORDS. 


June 4. 


And the angel that talked with me came again, and walked with me, as a man that 
is wakened out of his sleep, and said unto me: What seest thou?—Zechariah 4:1. 

T HERE is a legend of a great artist. One day he had wrought 
long on his picture, but was discouraged, for he could not 
produce on his canvas the beauty of his soul’s vision. He was 
weary, too; and, sinking down on a stool by his easel, he fell asleep. 
While he slept an angel came and taking the brushes which had 
dropped from the tired hands, he finished the picture in a marvel¬ 
ous way. When we are weary and discouraged, an angel comes, 
and puts on our canvas the touches of beauty which our own un¬ 
skilled hands cannot produce. —J. R. Miller, D. D. 


When Ambrose looked up, he stood alone, 

But he knew, by a sense of humbled grace, 

He had talked with an angel face to face. 

—J. R. Lowell. 

Can angel spirits need repose 
In the full sunlight of the sky? 

And can the veil of slumber close 
A cherub’s bright and blazing eye? 

Have seraphim a weary brow, 

A fainting heart, an aching breast ? 

No, for too high their pulses flow 
To languish with inglorious rest. 

—Anonymous. 


Are the angels never impatient 
That we are so weak and slow, 

So dull to their guiding touches, 

So deaf to the whispers low 
With which, entreating and urging, 

They follow us as we go? 

—Susan Coolidge. 


- 232- 


SYMPATHETIC SERVICE. 


June 5, 


So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying: What are these, 
my Lord?—Zechariah 4:4. 


NGELS of history. See! they eat, they speak, they sing, 



/i. their voices are heard by human ears, their touch is felt 
upon human hands, as when they led Lot and his family forth 
from Sodom. In short, they command material forces and achieve 
material results. When they appear their bodies resemble a 
human form, nor is there any indication in Scripture that those 
bodies are not real, and only assumed for the time and then laid 
aside. For myself, T believe that they are material, though of a 
form of matter of which we as yet can form no true conception, 
but which, some day perhaps, in the progress of a sanctified 
science, we shall be able to understand, if not discern. At all 
events, their life-history, as far as the Bible gives it, shows them 
united in sympathetic and harmonious service of God, with man 
and with all creation. — H. C. McCook, D. D. 

The charge is: “To keep thee in all thy ways;” here is a 
limitation of the promise; that is, as long as thou keepest in the 
way of thy duty. They that go out of that way put themselves 
out of God’s protection. This clause the devil left out when he 
quoted it to enforce a temptation, knowing how much it made 
against him. But observe the extent of the promise: “To keep 
thee in all thy ways.” Even when there is no apparent danger, 
yet we need it, and when there is the most imminent danger, we 
shall have the angels’ loving care; the angels are charged with 
them, as the servants are with the children. —Matthew Henry. 


He rais’d a mortal to the skies, 
She drew an angel down. 


—Dryden. 


Angels watch the cradle nest, 

In the star-lights brightened beams 
Beams with splendor pure and blest, 
O’er the silence of its dreams. 

Slumber sweet, let angels greet, 

Every thought of thine! 

0 baby, in the cradle nest, 

Dream sweetly of joy divine. 


- 233 — 


-J. P. Skelley. 


LIKE ANGELS’ VISITS. 


3une 6. 


Then the angel that talked with me answered and said: Knowest thou not what these 
be? And I said: No, my Lord.—Zechariah 4:5. 


E CANNOT doubt that the angels know the hearts of those 



V V to whom they more immediately minister. Much less can 
we doubt their knowing the thoughts that are in our hearts at any 
particular time. What should hinder their seeing them as they 
arise ! Not the thin veil of flesh and blood. Can these intercept 
the view of a spirit! Nay! Far more easily, then, and far more 
perfectly, than we can read a man’s thoughts in his face, do these 
sagacious beings read our thoughts just as they rise in our hearts, 
inasmuch as they see the kindred spirit more clearly than we see 
the body. They can in a thousand ways apply to our under¬ 
standing. They may assist us in our search for truth, remove 
many doubts and difficulties, throw light on what was before dark 
and obscure, and confirm us in the truth. They may warn us of 
evil in disguise, and place what is good in clear, strong light. 
They may quicken our dull affection, increase our holy hope or 
filial fear, and assist us more ardently to love God, who first loved 
us. —Wesley. 

With what ardor of affection angels engage in their heavenly 
mission; how unselfishly and unremittingly they labor to save 
man from the perdition of his evil loves and false principles. 


—Rev. Chauncey Giles. 


How fading are the joys we dote upon! 
Like apparitions seen and gone, 
dke angels’ visits, short and bright— 
Mortality’s too weak to bear them long. 


—John Norris. 


— 234 — 


FANNED THE CHEEKS OF CARE AND DOUBT. 


June 7 


And the angel that talked with me went forth.—Zechariah 5:5. 



HE denomination “angels,*’ which runs through the Scrip- 


1 tures as pervadingly as the name of God Himself, before 
whom they stand, is used with reference to their ministerial ser¬ 
vice; as the Hebrew “Malak,” and the Greek “Angelos” signify. 
The angels are the attendants on God and ministers of His will 
throughout all the ceremonies of His government. This gives 
them their glory and their grace. —Pope. 

God created the angels, building up in them their nature, and 
at the same time bestowing on them His grace. 

—Augustine. 

The angels were not created in a weakling state, by degrees 
increasing and growing perfect; but in their very formation they 
received at the instant of creation the infusion of grace. 


—St. Basil 


Meanwhile through all the vaulted space, 
The organ sent its angels out; 

And up and down the holy place 

They fanned the cheeks of care and doubt, 
And touched each worn and weary face 
With beauty as their wings went by; 

Then sailed afar with peaceful sweep, 

And calling heavenward every eye, 
Vanished into silence deep— 

The earth forgotten in the sky. 


J. S. Holland. 


Lord keep us safe this night secure from all our fears; 

May angels guard us while we sleep, till morning light appears. 


Old Latin Hymn. 


235 - 


SPEAKING ANGELS. 


June 8. 


Then said I to the angel that talked with me: Whither do these hear the ephah? 


—Zechariah 5:10. 


HEN we consider the words of angels, how short they are, 



vv how adapted to human comprehension in their simplicity, 
and yet always with a deeper meaning concealed beneath the 
primary one. Alas! commentators for the most part have passed 
over these words very lightly, noticing them merely as angelic 
words, not pausing to weigh their inherent value. Again, all 
the accounts given of the appearance of angels, are characterized 
by the same directness and simplicity. When angels are intro¬ 
duced to the normal waking consciousness of men, we do not find 
that they are seen flying down from heaven, or that there is any¬ 
thing marvelous in their deportment. It is not with shapes pro¬ 
jected by the inherent force of the human intellect, that we have to 
deal; it is the words and deeds of angels themselves; of separate 
and independent beings, in a marvelous manner no doubt, but yet 
in very deed and truth manifesting themselves as objective reali¬ 
ties to man.In the collective historical books of the 

Old Testament, we only find the appearance of speaking angels 
recorded thrice, while in the gospel narrative we read of at least 
eight distinct angelic addresses, and in the Acts of the Apostles of 
five. —Rudolph Stier, D. D. 

The transcendent dignity and overwhelming grandeur of the 
sublime and glorious subject of investigating the nature and at¬ 
tributes, the characteristics and ministrations of Holy Angels,— 
encompassed by the admonitory and awful silence of the Scrip¬ 
tures,—evidently appear to have deterred even writers of philo¬ 
sophic research and lofty intellectual endowments, from import¬ 
ing that plenitude of devotional consideration, to which, so at¬ 
tractive and cardinal a doctrine of divine revelation is, assuredly, 
entitled; to-wit,—the special ministry and appointed agency of 
Angelic Intelligences, in reference to the wondrous economy of 
Redemption, and the mighty achievements of Omnipotent pur¬ 
pose, in executing the moral government of the Universe. 


—George Clayton. 



STRANGE NEW SONGS. 


The angels stood in the court of the King, 

And into the midst, through the open door, 
Weeping came one whose broken wing 
Piteously trailed on the golden floor. 

Angel was she, and woman, and dove: 

Dove and angel and womanly blent 
With the virginal charm that is worshiped of love 
On the hither side of the firmament. 

* # *#--## * 

And the angels who dwell from sorrow remote 
Gazed on her woe as a marvelous thing: 

For they wist but of pain from its echoes that float 
In the strange new songs that the ransomed sing. 

“Sister,” at length said a shining one, 

To whom earth’s doves for a care were given, 
“What hast thou done, or left undone, 

That grief through thee shall be known in heaven?” 
****#*«*» 


—James Brinton Stevens. 


CHIEF OF CELESTIAL GUARDIANS. 


June 9. 


Then I answered, and said unto the angel that talked with me: What are these, 
my Lord?—Zechariah 6:4. 


HE Archangel Raphael is esteemed as the guardian angel of 



1 the human race. He is not mentioned in the Bible, but in 
the apocryphal book Tobit. Representatives of St. Raphael in 
art are far less numerous than are those of St. Michael and St. 
Gabriel. They are always pleasing, and present him as a benign, 
sympathetic and companionable friend to those whom he serves. 
His symbol is habitually a pilgrim’s staff; as a guardian he wears 
a sword, and has a small casket or vase. He wears a pilgrim’s 
dress, has sandals on his feet, and a pilgrim bottle or wallet hangs 
from his belt. His flowing hair is bound with a diadem, and his 
beautiful face expresses the benevolence of his character and mis¬ 
sion. Many chapels and some churches are dedicated to the 
Archangel Raphael, as the chief of celestial guardians. It was he 
who warned Adam of the danger of sin, whose language was 
benevolent and sympathetic as appears in Adam’s farewell to the 
angel. - r Clara Erskine Clement. 


Since to part, 

Go, heave.nly guest, ethereal messenger, 

Sent from whose sovereign goodness I adore! 
Gentle to me, and a fable, hath been 
Thy condescension, and shall be honor’d ever 
With grateful memory. Thou to mankind 
Be good and friendly still, and oft return! 


—Milton. 


Thou art special in thy longings 
Thou art special in the crown: 
Heaven .wonders at thy beauty,— 
’Tis a beauty of thine own. 
Thou art Raphael the Healer, 
Thou art Raphael the Guide, 
Thou art Raphael the Comrade, 
Aye at human sorrows’ side. 

Yet thy proper gift is gladness, 
And thy nature is so sweet, 


238 


THE GIFTS OF HEAVEN. 


239 


Thou art made to be the shadow 
Of the unmade Paraclete. 

0 Archangel of Compassion! 

Unto thee God’s heart is given; 

V>r thou lov’st the gifts of healing, 
Most of all the gifts of heaven. 

0 thou human-hearted seraph! 

How I long to see thy face, 

Where in silver showers of beauty 
God bedews thee with His grace! 
But I, see thee now in spirit 

’Mid the Godhead’s silent springs, 
With a soft eternal sunset 
Sleeping ever on thy wings. 


—Faber. 


ANGELIC MINISTRATIONS. 


June 10, 


And the angel answered and said unto me: These are the four spirits of the heavens, 
which fly forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.—Zechariah 6:5. 


HERE is nothing far-fetched in the figure, if we conceive that 



1 these ministers of God to the earth now take a feather from 
their wings, and with it give swiftness and accuracy to some dart of 
truth that shall pierce a hardened heart; or that they again take a 
feather from their wings and waft it on gentle breezes, to be used 
as some bright plume of victory in the cap of some struggling 
youth whose motto is “Excelsior;” or again, that they pluck 
many feathers from their wings and put them quickly together to 
fan coolness to some fevered brow and comfort to some suffering 
soul. I think that we may feel assured that the winged, heavenly, 
and angelic administrations, with the help and hope they bring 
to human hearts and homes, are “biddings and enablings” of 
God, by which men rise from being worms of earth to kinship 
with angels, by which they drop the serpentine slough and put 
on seraphic wings, by which they get away from the mole-life 
and gain the eagle’s eye and eagle’s pinion, by which they quit 
the gloom and night of earth and mount aloft with their eyes on 


the Sun of Glory 


—A. C. Courtice, D. I). 


Wings are given to the angels, that the important messages 
they receive may be carried swiftly. Sometimes these messages 
are sent to us in the visions of the night; at other times in holy 
whisperings, and by impressions on the mind. The messages 
vary as much in their character as do the colors of the bird plum¬ 
age of this beautiful world. Some are somber, others all aglow 
with brightness. —Anonymous. 


The feather, whence the pen 

Was shaped that traced the lives of those good men, 
Dropped from an angel’s wing. 


—Wordsworth. 


Whose noble praise 

Deserves a quill pluck’d from an angel’s wing. 


240 — 


Dorothy Berry. 



THE ANNUNCIATION 

(See page 287) 


Dolci 




■ 



GIFT FROM HEAVEN 


Plockhorst 


(See page 283) 






























A FEATHER FROM AN ANGEL’S WING. 

The pen wherewith thou dost so heavenly sing 
Made a feather from an angel’s wing. 

—Henry Constable. 

If the celestials daily fly 

With messages on missions high 

And float, our masts and turrets nigh, 

Conversing on Heaven’s great intent; 

What wonder hints of coming things, 

Whereto man’s hope and yearning clings, 

Should drop like feathers from their wings 
And give us vague presentiments? 


241 


—Jean Ingelow. 


EARTH HOVERING SPIRITS. 


5une U. 

And the house of David shall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them. 

—Zechariah 12:8. 

T HEHE is a third kind of providence, viz., that of the angels 
(daimonia), who are placed and ordained about the earth, 
as superior tenants, to observe and watch over the deeds of men. 

—Plutarch. 

The angels do God’s will from a principle of obedience, and 
for us other motives than because He is pleased to impose them. 
They have no little interest distinct from their Master ’s service ; 
and, therefore, whatever they do, they do it singly for His sake. 

—Mangey. 

The angels serve Thee in heaven, so may we serve Thee on 
the earth. For His holy angels obey Him; they do not offend 
Him; they do His commands through the love of Him. 

—Augustine. 

A very beautiful legendary interest attaches to the belief, more 
general in an earlier day than this, that every child has its guard¬ 
ian angel appointed to attend it through its pilgrimage. Why 
should we doubt this? —Margaret E. Sangster 

Earth hovering spirits they their charge began, 

The ministers of good, and guards of men; 

Mantled with mists of darkening sin they glide, 

And compass earth and pass on every side, 

And mark with earnest vigilance of eyes, 

When just deeds live, or crooked wrongs arise; 

And shower the wealth of seasons from above, 

Their kingly office, delegate from Jove. 

—Hesiod. 


- 242 - 


i'HINE OWN ANGELS. 


June 12 . 

But while he thought on these things, hehold the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him 
in a dream, saying: Joseph, thou Son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy 
wife.—Matthew 1:20. 

T HE Incarnation marks a new epoch of angelic ministration. 

“The Angel of Jehovah,’’ the Lord of all created angels, 
having now descended from heaven to earth, it was natural that 
His servants should continue to do Him service here. Whether 
to predict and glorify His worth itself, to minister to Him after 
His temptation and agony, or to declare His resurrection and 
triumphant ascension, they seem now to he indeed “ascending 
and descending on the Son of Man, ’ ’ almost as if transferring to 
earth the ministrations of heaven. It is clearly seen that what¬ 
ever was done for men by them in earlier days was hut typical 
of and flowing from their service to Him. — McClintock. 


Not for this 

Was common clay ta’en from the common earth, 

Moulded by God, and tempered with the tears 
Of angels to the perfect shape of man. 

—Tennyson. 


All praise to Thee, eternal Lord, 

Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood; 

Choosing a manger for Thy throne, 

While worlds on worlds are Thine alone! 

Once did the skies before Thee bow; 

A Virgin’s arm contain Thee now; 

Angels, who did in Thee rejoice, 

Now listen for Thine iniant voice. 

Thou earnest in the darksome night, 

To make us children of the light, 

To make us, in the realms divine, 

Like Thine own angels round Thee shine. 

—Martin Luther. 


-243 - 


CHRISTMAS CHIMES. 


June 13* 

The angel said: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; 
for he shall save his people from their sins.—Matthew 1:21. 

a A NGELUS” is the name given to a prayer to the Virgin 
Mary, instituted by Pope Urban II (1088-1099). It be¬ 
gins with the words, “Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae” (Lat.) 
(The angel of the Lord announced to Mary); this is followed by 
the words, “Ave Maria,” etc.,—the salutation of the angel 
Gabriel. The prayer consists of three verses, and each verse ends 
with the salutation. The word 61 Angelus ’ ’ is also used to mean 
the bell that is rung three times daily to call the faithful to recite 
this prayer. This custom vras instituted in 1316 by Pope John 
XXII (1316-1334). Louis XI (1461-1483) of France commanded 
the i 1 Angelus ’’ to be rung every day at noon. Millet’s most 
famous picture is “The Angelus.” —Wm. H. P. Phyfe. 

The Angelus. A Roman Catholic devotion in honor of the 
Incarnation, instituted by Urban II. It consists of three texts, 
each said as versicle and response, and followed by the salutation 
of Gabriel. The name is derived from the first words, Angelus 
Domini (The angel of the Lord, etc.). The prayer is recited 
three times a day, generally about six, A. M., at noon, and about 
six P. M., at the sound of a bell called the Angelus. The Angelus 
bell (often wrongly called Curfew) is still rung at 8 P. M. in 
some country churches. Longfellow sings: 

* ‘ Sweetly over the village the bell of the Angelus sounded . 1 ’ 

Great is the value of a name, and when a vital name and an 
equally vital presentation go together, the financial result is apt 
to be astonishing. In no case that we remember was it more un¬ 
expected than when “The Angelus,” by Jean Francois Millet, 
was sold at the Hotel Drouet for £30,000. 

—Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL. D. 

Once at the Angelus (ere I was dead), 

Angels all glorious came to my bed: 

Angels in blue and white, crowned on the head. 

--Henry Austin Dobson. 


- 244 - 


THE ANGELUS. 


245 


As angels sing 
The blest bells 

And lo! the toilers see the king. 

They hear Him say: 

“Come rest and pray; 

I, too, was weary in the way.” 

* * * * 

0 toiling men, 

It rings again— 

The Angelus sounded was as then! 

—Mrs. Merrill E. Gates. 


Far through the lilac sky the Angelus bell 
Brings back again the hail of Gabriel. 

Its refluent, three-fold, immemorial rhyme 
Follows the fading sun, from clime to clime, 

Wherever dark hours come and bright depart. 
***** *** 

Yes, they whose feet upon good errands run 
Are friends of God, with Michael of the sun. 

Yes, each accomplished service of the day 
Paves for the feet of God a lordlier way. 

The souls that love and labor through all wrong, 

They clasp His hand and make the circle strong, 

And build into Eternity God’s throne! 

—Edwin Markham. 


/ 


SOLVES THE RIDDLE OF LIFE. 


June 14. 

Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him, 
and took unto him his wife.—Matthew 1:24. 

T HE ministry of angels, therefore, a doctrine implied in their 
very name, is evident, from certain actions which are as¬ 
cribed wholly to them, and from the Scriptural narratives of other 
events, in the accomplishment of which they acted a visible part, 
principally in the guidance of the destinies of man. In those 
cases also in which the agency is concealed from our view, we 
may admit the probability of its existence, because we are told 
that God sends them forth ‘ ‘ to minister to those who shall be heirs 
of salvation.’’ But the angels, when employed for our welfare, 
do not act independently, but as the instruments of God, and 
by His command; not unto them, therefore, are our confidence 
and adoration due, but only to Him whom the angels themselves 
reverently worship. — McClintock. 


The wind that breathes from heaven’s throne, 

Angels of light such as still play 
Like notes in sunshine, round the Lord, 

And through their infinite array, 

Transmit each moment, night and day, 

The echo of his luminous word. 

— Thomas Moore. 


A page—you could not trace the writing in it, 
So blurred and blotted, faded and obscure, 
Yet angels, looking down one golden minute, 
Can read it all, with smile content and pure, 
As mine that day. 


— Mrs. 


Craik. 


— 246 — 


CHRISTMAS ANGELS. 


June 15. 


Behold the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: Arise, and take 
the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee 
word.—Matthew 2:13. 

I F AN angel should gather up in his cup all the tears that have 
been shed, I think the bitterest would be those of children. 

—Olive Schreiner. 

No sooner did one angel of the Lord announce the manifesta¬ 
tion of God in the flesh, than the whole multitude of the heavenly 
lost immediately are on the wing, breaking forth into the har¬ 
monious praises of their Creator, that by their example they might 
teach us, as often as any one of our brethren should proclaim aloud 
the glad tidings of Divine wisdom, or as often as we ourselves 
should ponder on any sacred truths we have heard or read, that we 
should at once give praise to the Lord by word of mouth and in 
our hearts and lives. —Bede. 

Sing to us, angels of Christmas, sing 

While sweet in the day-dawn our glad bells ring! 

Sing of the love that comes from above, 

Brooding and soft as the breast of a dove, 

While we swift forget the pain and fret, 

And the pitiful things to which life is set, 

And leave at the manger all thought of danger, 

And worship the Child, God’s children yet. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 

But angels on Thy face intent 
With love we do not know— 

Glad searchers of Thy will—are sent 
To watch the way we go. 

—A. L. Waring. 


— 247 — 


THE ANGELS COME AND GO. 


5une 16 


But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to 
Joseph in Egypt.—Matthew 2:19. 


AY not angels minister to us witli respect to our bodies also 1 



i V I How many times have we been strangely and unaccount¬ 
ably preserved, in sudden and dangerous falls! God gave His 
angels charge over us. Daniel testifies: 4 ‘ My God has sent His 

angel, and shut the mouths of the lions.” It seems that what 
are usually called divine dreams may be frequently ascribed to 
angels. And how often does God deliver us from evil men, by 
the ministry of His angels, overturning whatever their rage, 
or malice, or subtlety, had plotted against us. These are about 
their bed, and about their path, and privy to all their dark de¬ 
signs; and many of them undoubtedly, they brought to naught, 
by means that we think not of. Sometimes they blast their favor¬ 
ite schemes in the beginning; sometimes when they are just ripe 
for execution. And this they can do by a thousand means that we 
are not aware of. They can check them in their mad career by 
bereaving them of courage, or of strength; by striking faintness 
through their loins, or turning their wisdom into foolishness. 
Sometimes they bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and 
show us the traps laid for our feet. —Wesley. 


Around our pillows golden ladders rise, 

And up and down the skies, 

With winged sandals shod, 

The angels come and go, the messengers of God. 


—Stoddard. 


- 248 - 


HOLY WATCHES. 


3une 17. 

And the angel said: Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the 
land of Israel; for they are dead that sought the young child’s life.—Matthew 2:20. 

B UT the home of Jesus was no ordinary home. With Joseph 
to guide and support, with Mary to hallow and sweeten it, 
with the youthful Jesus to illuminate it with the very light of 
heaven, we may well believe it was a home of trustful piety, of 
angelic purity, of almost perfect peace, a home for the sake of 
which all the earth would be dearer and more awful to the watch¬ 
ers and holy ones; and where, if the fancy be permitted us, they 
would love to stay their waving wings. —Farrar. 

Given the consciousness that an angel is leading us, and in¬ 
stantly a series of preparations must be set up corresponding with 
the quality and title of the leading angel of our pilgrimage. 
Whom our love expects our love provides for. 

—Joseph Parker, D. D. 

Home of the Christ-Child at Nazareth, 

Let my thought within thee dwell; 

There, where, shrouded in man ’s weakness, 

Dwelleth Light Ineffable. 

Angels circle round adoring, 

Watchful as the hours go by, 

As the mystery advanceth 
Of that wondrous Infancy. 

And the name at which archangels 
Bow adoring and say, “Lord,” 

In that peasant home was spoken 
As a common household word. 

—Caroline M. Noel. 


— ?49 — 


PROVIDENCE BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION. 


5nne 18. 

And Satan saith unto him: If thou he the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is 
written: He shall give his angels charge over thee.—Matthew 4:6. 

1. He giveth those blessed spirits which behold His face 
charge concerning His people upon earth; as if a nobleman were 
charged to look to a beggar by a prince of both. 2. We under¬ 
stand the operation of finite spirits better than infinite. God is 
so far out of the reach of our commerce that we cannot understand 
the particularity of His providence. 3. To counterwork the 
devil; evil angels are ready to hurt us, and therefore good angels 
are ready to preserve us. Well might the devil be so versed in 
this place (Matt. 4:6); he hath often felt the effects of it; he knew 
it by experience, being so often encountered by the good angels 
in his endeavors against the people of God. 4. To begin our ac¬ 
quaintance with angels here which in heaven shall be perfected 
(Hebrews 12:22). -T. Manton, D. D. 

Albeit the angels deserve our reverence, they yet desire not our 
adoration. Indeed, the evil angels request it; it was what the 
devil begged of Christ, to fall down and worship him. But the 
good refuse. ‘ ‘ See thou do it not! ’’ —Rev. Thomas Adams. 

And Lucifer, at Satan ’s dire request, 

The fall’n archangels, who whole nations infest, 

Called from their several stations to his aid: 

Then to the temple battlement, thro’ air, 

The fiend wafts Jesus, Jesus to ensnare; 

“God,” said he, “charge upon His angels lays 
To keep your feet unhurt in stony ways; 

Cast yourself down—the angels in their arms 
Will catch you falling, and secure from harm. ’ ’ 

“The Sacred Writings,” Jesus said, “declare 
To tempt the Lord thy God thou shalt not dare.” 

—Bishop Ken. 


- 250 - 


AMBROSIAL FRUITS. 


June 19. 


Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

—Matthew 4:11. 

W HEN, in the desert, He was girding Himself for the work ot 
life, angels of life came and ministered unto Him. 

—Ruskin. 

We find angels in the desert; and after Satan had been allowed 
to tempt the Lord, coming themselves to minister to Him. Surely, 
had He pleased, He could have summoned millions and tens ot 
millions to His aid; but it was not until the temptation was passed 
that they were permitted to come. Doubtless they looked on that 
tremendous temptation, and wondered that angelic wisdom could 
be so fallen as to suppose it possible for Christ to be tempted suc¬ 
cessfully. —Christmas. 

The crisis had passed. Yielding Himself into the hands of 
God, it was exchanged for the joys of angel ministration. 

—Geikie. 

The strife was o ’er, the battle won; angels came and ministered 
to the wants of the triumphant Lord. They had watched the 
struggle with the most awful interest. They had sympathized 
with the blessed Lord in the intense anguish of that dread agony 
of temptation. They rejoiced in His victory. Even so they help 
the Christian warrior now in his conflict against the same dread 
foe. The moments of victory—victory after sore temptation—are 
sweet beyond expression; they are sweetened by the unseen pres¬ 
ence of the blessed angels, rejoicing with the Christians’ joy, 
“singing sweet fragments of the songs above” to cheer the 
wearied pilgrim. —Pulpit Commentary. 

They in a flowery valley set Him down 

On a green bank, and straight before Him spread 

A table of celestial food, divine 

Ambrosial fruits, fetched from the Tree of Life, 

And from the Fount of Life celestial drink; 

And as He fed, angelic choirs 
Sang heavenly anthems. 


—Milton. 


RIPENED AND UNRIPENED GRAIN. 


June 20. 


The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and 
the reapers are the angels.—Matthew 13:39. 



OOD angels are God’s host; innumerable, they attend and 


VJ obey Him in heaven; but they occasionally do services, and 
give instruction to the sons of men. Good angels attended on 
Christ, honored Him, ministered to Him, strengthened Him; ac¬ 
companied His resurrection, His ascension, and will attend His 
second coming, when they will separate, the godly to glory, the 
ungodly to perdition. Good angels attend good men, defend and 
save them, direct them, carry their souls to heaven, will rejoice 
with them in glory. They are humble and modest; obedient, sym¬ 
pathetic, complacent, holy. —Edward Robinson, D. I). 


Angels who kept their first estate, 

Who sinned not, knew not guilt and woe, 
In bliss beyond expression great, 

The bliss of pardon cannot know. 

We, born in sorrow and in sin, 

Yet by a new and living way 
To paradise again brought in,— 

May taste of sweeter joys than they. 


—Montgomery. 


But Moses felt the subtly nearing dark: 

“Who art thou? and what wilt thou?” Zamael then: 
“I am God’s reaper; through the fields of life 
I gather ripened and unripened grain, 

Both willing and unwilling; and I come 
Now to reap thee.” But Moses cried 
Firm as a seer who waits the trusted sign: 

“Reap thou the fruitless plant and common herb— 
Not him who from the womb was sanctified 
To teach the law of purity and love.” 

And Zamael, baffled, from his errand fled. 


—George Eliot. 


- 252 - 


“WALKING IN HIS UPRIGHTNESS.” 


June 21 


The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom 
all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.—Matthew 13:41. 


ITH the Shekinah come the ministering angels to receive 



V Y the soul of a righteous man. Xot only their angels, but 
the companions of angels attend at such a time. When a righteous 
man departs out of this world, three companies of ministering 
angels meet him: one says, 4 4 Come in peace; ’’ and another says, 
4 ‘Walking in his uprightness;” and the other says, “He shall 
enter into peace. ” If a soul is worthy, how many holy troops, or 
companies, are ready to join it, and bring it to paradise! But if 
it is not worthy, how many strange troops are ready to bring it 
into the way of hell! These are the troops of the destroying 
angels. —Jewish Paraphrasts. 

The angels must watch with eager interest the man who is 
going through hard struggle which tries his spirit—they watch to 
see that he endures. — J. B. Miller, D. D. 


I saw the angelic guards from earth ascend, 

Grieved they must now no longer man attend; 

The beams about their temple dimly shone; 

One would have thought the crime had been their own. 


—Dryden. 


If I must die, as die I must, 
Let some kind seraph come, 


And bear me on his friendly wing 
To my celestial home. 


—Benjamin Beddome. 


253 - 


BRIGHT IN CELESTIAL ARMOR. 


June 22. 

So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the 
wicked from among the just.—Matthew 13:49. 

I F THE angels are now secured against falling away, what made 
them secure ? What has thrown around them such a rampart 
against the incursions of evil that there is a certainty of their 
continuing the obedient and the happy ? We know of no satis¬ 
factory answer to these questions but that which supposes the 
whole universe interested in the suretyship of Jesus and affected 
by His mediation. Of course, we do not mean that where no sin 
had been committed there could be need of the shedding of blood. 
But those who required not expiation, required the being con¬ 
firmed and established; they required to have their happiness 
made permanent through some connection of its mutability. When, 
therefore, the Son of God undertook to link the created with the 
Uncreated, the finite with the Infinite, in His own divine person, 
He probably did that which gave stability to unfallen orders, as 
well as wrought the recovery of the fallen. — Melvill. 

Suddenly 

In heaven appeared a host of angels strong, 

With chariots and with steeds of burning fire, 

Cherub and seraph, thrones, dominions, powers, 

Bright in celestial armor, dazzling rode, 

And leading in the front, illustrious shone 
Michael and Gabriel, servants long approved 
In high commission, girt that day with power 
Which naught created, man or devil, might 
Resist. Nor waited, gazing, long; but quick 
Descending, silently and without song, 

As servants bent to do their Master’s work, 

To middle air they raised the human race, 

Above the path long traveled by the sun; 

And as a shepherd from the sheep divides 
The goats; or husbandmen, with reaping bands, 

In harvest, separates the precious wheat, 

Selected from the tares, so did they part 
Mankind, the good and bad, to right and left, 

To meet no more. 


- 254 - 


— Milton. 


SONG WITHOUT WORDS. 


June 23. 

And the angels shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall he wailing and 
gnashing of teeth.—Matthew 13:50. 

B UT the most fascinating and radiant lineament in the por¬ 
traiture of the angelical character is their unbounded and 
affectionate benevolence:—Love, an essential adjunct of their 
nature,—the atmosphere of their existence,—their nearest ap¬ 
proach to the most glorious of the attributes of that Supreme 
Being denominated the God of Love. He is the uncreated and 
eternal source of all felicity, from which flow the streams of joy 
which gladden the heart of angels and archangels, cherubim and 
seraphim. Of this distinguished and attractive loveliness of char¬ 
acter angels are supremely possessed. Angels are sincere, 
gentle, meek, kind, compassionate, and perfectly conformed to that 
great moral principle communicated in the word of our Lord, 
when he said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This 
sublime excellence, incomparably more precious than gold which 
perishes, has in them been, from the beginning, debased with no 
alloy, tarnished with no spot, impaired by no length of years, and 
changed by no weakness or imperfection. Free from every de¬ 
fect and every mixture, it has varied with the length of years, and 
shone not only with undiminished, but with increasing beauty and 
luster. There is no good which it is proper for angels to do, 
which they are not habitually prepared to do. There is no kind¬ 
ness capable of being suitably exercised by them which they do 
not in fact exercise. The more their faculties are enlarged, and 
the more their knowledge is increased, the more their means of 
usfulness is multiplied; the more exalted is their excellence, the 
more disinterested and noble their dispositions; the more intense 
their benevolence, and the more lovely and beautiful their char¬ 
acter ; the good which they have already done has only prepared 
them to do more and greater good; and the disposition with which 
it was done has only become stronger by their preceding exertion. 

-Clayton’s Angelology. 

Thee ’mid angel hosts we sing, 

Thee their Maker and their King. 

- 255 — 


256 


EACH ON ERRANDS GO. 


All who circling round adore Thee, 
All who bow before Thy throne, 
Burn with flaming zeal before Thee 
Thy behests to carry down: 

To and fro, ’twixt earth and heaven, 
Speed they each on errands given. 

First of all those legions glorious 
Michael waves his sword of flame, 
Who of old in war victorious 

Did the dragon’s fierceness tame: 
Who with might invincible 
Thrust the rebel down to hell. 

Strong to aid the sick and dying, 
Call’d from heaven they swiftly fly, 
In their mortal agony: 

Souls released from bondage here 
Safe to Paradise they bear. 


—Rev. William Palmer. 


MUSICAL ANGELS 


(See page 292) 















THE ANNUNCIATION 

(See page 288) 





























THE ANGEL OF THE GOLDEN GATE. 


5une 24. 

For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and these 
he shall reward, every man according to his works.—Hatthew 1G:27. 

''’PHERE is an account to be given in. There is a day for the 
1 manifestation of God’s wrath against all unrighteousness of 
men. There is a judgment seat to be raised in the sight of men 
and angels. There is a great convocation, at which all of this 
world, and many of other worlds, shall be present. The angels 
who come in glory will not witness on that day the weakness of a 
degraded and insulted God. Cli, no, my brethren, there will be a 
terrible vindication of truth and holiness and justice and maj¬ 
esty. —Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D. D., LL. D. 

The great doctrines of original sin and of the sinfulness of 
our whole human nature were not held by the ancient Rabbis. 
The fall of Adam is ascribed to the envy of the angels,—not the 
fallen ones, for none were fallen till God cast them down in conse¬ 
quence of their seduction of man. The angels, having in vain 
tried to prevent the creation of man, at last conspired to lead him 
into sin as the only means of his ruin—the task being undertaken 
by Sammael (and his angels), who in many respects was superior 
to the other angelic princes. The instrument employed was the 
serpent. Rabbinic legend, enlarging upon the Biblical narratives, 
has much to tell of the original envy of the angels; of the assaults 
of Satan upon Abraham when about to offer up Isaac; of at¬ 
tempted resistance by the angels to Israel’s reception of the Law; 
and of the final vain endeavor of Satan to take away the soul of 
Moses. — Edersheim. 

She stood outside the gate of heaven, and saw them entering in, 

A world-long train of shining ones, all washed in blood from sin. 

The angel of the golden gate said: “Where then dost thou dwell? 

And who art thou that enterest not?” “A soul escaped from hell.” 

“Who knows to bless with prayer like thine, in hell can never be; 

God’s angel could not, if he would, bar up the door from thee.” 

She left her sin outside the gate, she meekly entered there, 

Breathed free the blessed air of heaven, and knew her native air. 

—Anonymous. 


- 257 - 


ANGEL PLAYMATES. 


June 25. 

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in 
heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 

—Matthew 18:10. 

I N THE Jewish view, only the chief est of the angels were before 
the face of God within the contained Veil or Pargod, while 
the others ranged in different classes, stood outside and awaited 
His behest. The distinction which the former enjoyed was al¬ 
ways to behold His face, and to hear and know directly the Divine 
counsels and commands. This distinction, therefore, was one of 
knowledge; Christ taught that it was one of love. The simpler, 
the more receptive and clinging, the nearer to God. Look up from 
earth to heaven; those representatives, it may be guardian angels, 
nearest to God are not those of deepest knowledge of God’s coun¬ 
sel and commands, but those of simple, humble grace and faith— 
and so learn, not only not to despise one of these little ones, but 
who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. — Edersheim. 

Listening to babes that have, as Frebel thought, been so re¬ 
cently playmates with angels, the philosopher discovered in the 
teachableness, trust and purity of childhood the secret of indi¬ 
vidual happiness and progress. 

—Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D. 

Children keep up that harmless play, 

Your kindred angels plainly say 
By God’s authority, ye may. 

—W. S. Landor. 


The Master told us about them, 

Or else we would not have known 
Of the great, glad children ’s angels 
Who stand for them near the throne. 
The face of the Heavenly Father 
Their angels always behold; 

They live in unbroken vision, 

Afar in the City of Gold. 

- 258 - 


“WE CAN NOT KNOW HOW THEY HELP HIM.” 


259 


Their beautiful brows are lifted, 

Evermore in dazzling sight 
Of the Father’s unseen glory, 

His unapproachable light. 

Yet His ineffable brightness 

Does not blind, but fill them still 
With higher rapture of service, 

A sweeter worship of His will. 

These strong, glad worshiping angels 
Who dwell in excess of light, 

Loves, each, some dear little earth child, 

And cares for him day and night. 

We can not know how they help him, 

Nor what the mysterious tie, 

That binds pure and deathless angels 
To frail little ones that die. 

—Mrs. Merrill E. Gates. 





THE LIFE OF ANGELS. 


June 26. 

For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the 
angels of God.—Matthew 22:30. 

T HE angels were created without sex. Christ Himself taught 
this in express terms as a characteristic peculiarity of the 
angels when he referred to the glorified bodies of men at the resur¬ 
rection. As a first consequence, it was absolutely necessary that 
the number of the angels should ever remain just as God consti¬ 
tuted it—the number could be neither increased nor diminished 
in any other way than by a direct act on the part of God—and that 
so significant a provision as obtains upon earth, namely, that man 
was to unfold himself through the institution of marriage from his 
original unity into a great multitude, should never obtain in the 
angelic world. A further consequence was, that the bond which 
connects the single individual to the whole species, could not, as 
in the case of man, be a bond of succession, sustained by the unity 
of derivation, but merely one of simultaneity, conditioned and pre¬ 
served by their all having the same Creator, a community of 
nature, of objects to be gained, and of destinies to be fulfilled. So 
far as their self-determination and the history flowing from it 
were concerned, this provision was specially and peculiarly im¬ 
portant, since it rendered the choice of one part of the species, or 
of one individual, independent of the choice of all the rest, so that 
the fall of one could not carry with it the ruin of the whole species. 

—Kurtz. 

When from flesh the spirit freed, 

Hastens homeward to return, 

Mortals cry, “A man is dead!” 

Angels sing, 11 A child is born ! 91 
Born into the world above, 

They our happy brother greet; 

Bear him to the throne above, 

Place him at the Savior’s feet. 

—Anonymous. 


— 260 — 


BILLOW TO BILLOW. 


June 27* 

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather 
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

—Matthew 24:31. 

B UT there is one solemn office which angels themselves will 
have to exercise; they are to gather together the elect of the 
Lord, when the time shall come for judgment; to gather together, 
indeed, the whole of the human race; for though the elect only are 
mentioned, yet our Lord intimates that all are to he gathered to¬ 
gether by them, as well those who have served God as those who 
have served Satan. The great fact is clear, that there shall come 
a day when the human family shall be gathered by the angels, and 
not one left behind, either of the righteous or of the wicked. When 
those mighty intelligences shall go from grave to grave, and from 
billow to billow, to call us from the depths, and caves, and tombs, 
will it be with joy or terror that we shall hear the summons ? Will 
our eyes open upon the bright and glorious form of some angel of 
light, or shall we behold some demon of the pit, waiting to drag 
us to the judgment-seat? Let us reflect on these things. 

—Christmas. 


Angels bear her softly upward, 

Through the golden, dreamy air; 

Gently, gently, never earthward 
Clung that spirit bright and fair. 

On that face is writ no terror, 

On those lips has died a smile; 

Sister angels, softly bear her, 

And the dark grave-rest beguile. 

—Sophia M. Ecldey. 


Pure angels with her loved commune 
What time the tender virgin moon 
Kissed her young sleep through nights of June. 

—Roden Noel. 


- 201 


INTO GLORY PEEP. 


3une 28. 

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, hut my 
Father only.—Matthew 24:3G. 

T HAT the knowledge of angels is very great, as compared with 
that of men in the present life, may be inferred (a) from the 
language of Christ, for obviously this language is ascensive or 
climacteric, assuming a greater knowledge on the part of angels 
than on the part of men; (b) from the circumstance that they 
appear to have been for a long time at home with God. We do 
not know the time when the angels were created; but it is gener¬ 
ally supposed that their creation preceded that of man, if not the 
whole visible universe; (c) from the devout interest or curiosity 
which they are said to feel in the work of divine grace; (d) from 
instances of demoniac and satanic intelligence recorded in the gos¬ 
pels. But it is evident that the knowledge of angels is limited. 
Indeed, it is by no means certain that either good or evil angels 
can know what are the thoughts of any man by direct intuition, 
though they may be marvelously sagacious in conjecturing human 
thoughts. — Hovey. 

Angels, like people, might come where they are wanted, 
trusted, or expected. —Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. 

And yet, as angels in some brighter dreams 
Call to the soul when man doth sleep, 

So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes 
And into glory peep. 

—Vaughn. 


- 262 - 


CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL. 


3une 29 . 

When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then 
shall he sit upon the t*hrone of his glory.—Matthew 25:31. 

B UT' the earth and heavens afire will flee from the presence 
of the descending Judge, and His throne will be set in space, 
to judge both angels and men. Every angel in the universe will 
be there. Heaven will be emptied. Millions of spheres will be 
deserted of their ministering spirits. They will crowd all space in 
their lightning flight to the throne of the Man of Calvary. Hell 
will open its hideous mouth, and its blackened angel legions will 
come tramping out of its dungeons, darkening the ether in their 
ascent to the judgment-seat. A line is drawn, separating angels 
from devils, Abel from Cain. The Judge arises. His sword is 
unsheathed. ‘ ‘ Depart, ye cursed, into the Hell ye have usurped, 
prepared for the Devil and his angels . 9 9 His sword is sheathed. 
The brightness of an approving smile rests now upon His brow. 
Angels reflect it; saints reflect it; the sweet face of Mary reflects 
it—“Come, ye blessed”—the throne of the Judge wheels into the 
front, its muttering thunders now playing the sweetest music. 
“Come!”—all angels and archangels, and families and friends 
fall into grand procession, and the magnificent pageant sweeps 
into the heavens, and the choral symphonies of the coronation of 
Christ ring against the arches of the universe —Munsey. 

Behold the crown that rests upon his brow, 

Where angels and archangels bow. 

—Davies. 


All hail the power of Jesus’ name, 

Let angels prostrate fall. 

Bring forth the royal diadem 
And crown Him Lord of all. 

—Perrouet. 


- 263 - 


LUCIFER, SON OF THE MORNING. 

3une 30. 


Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand: Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
everlasting Hre prepared for the devil and his angels.—Matthew 25:41. 


UCIFER is looked upon as the head of the fallen angels, and 



L* the rest are his subjects. He has power over them. They 
selected him as their leader, and by a fit punishment God permits 
him, for his and their punishment, to he their leader still. It is 
a punishment to them, for he domineers over them and inflicts 
pain. It is a punishment to him; for with the bright intelligence 
that belongs to an angel, and of which the rebellious were not 
deprived, he sees what a noble thing it would be to rule over pure 
souls working for a noble end; on the other hand, what a prosti¬ 
tution of nobility to rule over evil agents for evil purposes. Mil- 
ton, indeed, describes him as taking a demon pleasure in so ruling; 
but a demon pleasure brings no joy, and so the great poet (before 
leaving) takes care to represent the gratification as but assumed. 

—O’Kennedy. 


What though the field be lost? 

All is not lost; the unconquerable will, 

And study of revenge, immortal hate, 

And courage never to submit or yield— 

Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, 
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell. 
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. 

So spake the apostate angel, though in pain, 
Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair. 


Milton. 


The sentence uttered, as with life instinct, 

The throne uprose, majestically slow; 

Each angel spread his wings; in one dread swell 
Of triumph mingling as they mounted, trumpets, 
And harps, and golden lyres, and timbrels sweet, 
And many a strange and deep-toned instrument 
Of heavenly ministrelsy unknown to earth, 

And angels’ voices, and the loud acclaim 
Of all the ransomed, like a thunder-shout. 

Far through the skies melodious echoes rolled, 
And faint hosannas distant chimes returned. 


—James A. Hillhouse. 


- 2G4 - 








?ul£. 

ANGELS HOLY, ANGELS OF LIGHT. 

3»ls t. 


Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me 
more than twelve legions of angels.—Matthew 26:53. 

T HE mystery of the Baptism opens up the three years; hence¬ 
forth in all the joumeyings by mountain and valley, by lake 
and river, the angels throng the world’s Savior with adoring love, 
seeking to compensate His tender heart for the scorn, neglect, and 
hatred of His best beloved creatures; seeking also to drown the 
discord of human coarseness, by those entrancing melodies with 
which the heaven is echoing; now swelling to the full diapason of 
the angelic choirs, anon whispering low the liquid tones as of trem¬ 
bling flageolets, of one hovering spirit, they would rock His soul 
in ecstacy. Imagination presents the thought and love dwells 
on it caressingly that angels, hovering always over Him, held Him 
in their arms when the Son of Man was weary and would rest; 
that when night fell upon the mountains of Judea, and the stars 
mirrored themselves in Genesareth and all the world of humanity 
was wrapped in slumber, the heavenly hosts vied with each other 
in ministering unto Him. Imagination also pictures the multi¬ 
tude who hung above the City of His Tears, and watched shudder- 
ingly the horrors of those last hours. The angel of Gethsemane 
is not named, we know not who it was who with adoring love 
swept to the solace of that blinding agony beneath those gnarled 
and knotted olive trees, while His chosen ones slept. We do not 
know even whether it were one of the seven, the star upon his brow 
dimmed in the eclipse shed over all heavenly things by that 
mighty sorrow. We cannot think it the martial Michael—rather 
we picture him bending from the crystal battlements with sword 

- 267- 



268 


ANGELS HOLY, ANGELS OF LIGHT. 


half drawn, restrained by the will of Omnipotence and holding 
hack his angelic cohorts by the silence of his own agonized obedi¬ 
ence. A moment of expectant doubt pulsated also over the wait¬ 
ing hierarchy when they hear that prayer for the passing of the 
chalice. The action of Peter in cutting off the ear of the high 
priest’s servant was witnessed rejoicingly, if we may so speak, 
and the words of our Savior’s rebuke: “Thinkest thou that I 
cannot ask my Father and He will give me presently twelve legions 
of angels ? ’ ’ must have thrilled through the watching hosts as they 
turned expectantly towards the throne. But what words of 
human tongue can voice, what reaching of human intelligence can 
realize the angelic wrath and horror of those onlooking throngs? 

-By M. 


Angels of God, ye radiant band, 
Guarding the golden portals ye stand, 
Lifting on high a raptured song, 
Whose-alleluias rise clear and strong. 


Angels holy, angels of light, 

Silver trumpets peal through the night! 
Shout hosannas, praise ye the King! 

Let all creation echo and ring! 


Onward the flight they are winging, 
Comfort to weary hearts bringing, 
On to the haven of rest, 

Peace from the land so blest. 


Angels of God, ye spirits fair, 

Who cast a glory everywhere, 

Hark, from the glittering host above, 

Rises a ceaseless tribute of love. 

—Annie Porter Lynes. 


ROLLING AWAY THE STONE. 


3ul£ 2. 

And behold there was a great earthquake: for the Angel of the Lord descended from 
heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.—Matthew 28:2. 

T HE connection between the descent of the angel and rolling 
away of the stone and of the resurrection of the Lord, is not 
defined. It was the general opinion of the Fathers that He rose 
and left the tomb before the stone was rolled away; the object of 
this act by the angel being, not to give the Lord a way of exit, but 
to open the way for the women to enter. There is no indication 
that the soldiers saw Jesus as He left the sepulchre, and their 
terror is expressly ascribed to the sight of an angel. 

—Andrews. 

Angels roll the rock away; 

Death, yield up the mighty prey; 

See, He rises from the tomb, 

Glowing with immortal bloom. 

’Tis the Savior! Angels, raise 
Fame’s eternal trump of praise, 

Let the earth’s remotest bound 
Hear the joy-inspiring sound. 

Praise Him, all ye heavenly choirs, 

Praise and sweep your golden lyres; 

Shout, oh earth, in rapturous song, 

Let the strain be sweet and strong. 

—Rev. Thos. Scott. 

The women sought the tomb at dawn of day, 

And as they went they wept and made their moan; 

His sepulcher is guarded by a stone, 

And who for us shall roll the stone away? 

But lo!—an angel robed in white array 
Had rent the rock and sat thereon alone. 

“Fear not,” said he; “the Lord hath overthrown 
The power of Death. I show you where He lay. 

We echo oftentimes that cry of old: 

Huge stumbling-blocks confront us whilst we wait, 

And wonder, weeping, who will help afford: 

But as we question, sorrowing, behold! 

The stone is rolled away, though it is great, 

And on it sits the angel of the Lord. 

—E. Thorny croft Fowler. 


— 269 —» 


APPEARANCE OF THE ANGEL. 


JUlB 3. 

The angel's countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.—Matthew 28:3. 

O NE stronger than the women had roiled away the stone. A 
mighty angel had come down from heaven; his appearance 
was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow. What could the 
Romans do in the presence of that effulgent, blinding radiance? 
The mere sight of one angel of the Lord affrighted them into 
utter helplessness. How would it have fared with the presumptu¬ 
ous multitude who seized the Savior at Gethsemane, had He sum¬ 
moned those heavenly legions? The angel had done what the 
women knew was beyond their strength; he had rolled away the 
stone; they found him sitting on it in his glorious beauty. The 
blessed angels terrify the enemies of the Lord; they bring joy and 
gladness to His chosen. The soldiers lay on the ground pros¬ 
trate, like dead men. The holy women started at the glorious 
vision, but the heavenly music of the angel’s voice soon gave them 
peace and joy. — P. C. 

When downward to the darksome tomb 
I thoughtful turn my eyes, 

Frail nature trembles at the gloom, 

And anxious fears arise. 

Why shrinks my soul?—in death’s embrace 
Once Jesus captive slept; 

And angels, hovering o’er the place, 

His lowly pillow kept. 

Thus shall they guard my sleeping dust, 

And, as the Savior rose, 

The angels bright shall yield their trust 
And end my deep repose. 

—Ray Palmer. 

God’s angel unto me the truth hath taught, 

Which thou shalt see, if thou wilt but renounce 
Idols, and clean be, else thou shalt see naught. 

—Canterbury Tales. 


- 270- 


THE ANGEL OF SLEEP AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH. 


3Ul£ 4. 

And for fear of the angel the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.—Matthew 28:4. 

T HE angel of sleep and the angel of death wandered in fraternal 
unity over the world. It was evening. They rested on a 
hill not far from the habitations of man. A placid calmness pre¬ 
vailed everywhere; even the sound of the curfew ceased in the dis¬ 
tant hamlet. Calmly and silently, as is their wont, the two 
beneficent angels of mankind held each other embraced until night 
approached. Then the angel of sleep arose from his mossy seat, 
and strewed with noiseless hand the invisible seeds of slumber. 
The evening breeze carried them to the quiet dwellings of the 
tired country people and sweet sleep descended on the dwellers in 
their rural huts, from the old man with his crutch to the babe in 
the cradle. The sick once more forgot their pains, the troubled 
soul her grief, and poverty her cares, for every eye was closed. 
Now, his task being done, the beneficent angel of sleep returned 
to his graver brother. ‘‘When the light of the morning arises,” 
he exclaimed with innocent joy, “mankind will praise me as their 
friend and benefactor. What a blessing to do good in secret! 
How happy are we, the invisible messengers of the good Spirit! 
How beautiful our silent calling! ’ 9 Thus spoke the gentle angel 
of sleep. The angel of death gazed at him with a look of soft 
melancholy, and a fear, such as immortal beings shed, glistened 
in his large dark eyes. “Alas!” said he, “would that I could 
enjoy cheerful gratitude like thee! The world calls me her enemy 
and disturber!” “0 my brother,” replied the angel of sleep, 
“will not, at the awakening, the good man acknowledge thee as 
his friend and benefactor and gratefully bless thee? Are we not 
brethren and messengers of one Father?” When he spoke thus, 
the eye of the angel of death glistened brightly, and the fraternal 
spirits embraced with renewed energy. — Krummacher. 

On wings of living light, 

At earliest dawn of day, 

Came down the angel bright, 

And rolled the stone away. 


LET YOUR HEARTS BE STRONG. 


The keepers watching near, 

At that dread sight and sound, 
Fell down with sudden fear 
Like dead men to the ground. 

Oh, let your hearts be strong! 

For we, like him, shall rise, 

To dwell with him ere long, 

And angels in the skies. 



APPARITION TO 


THE SHEPHERDS 


(See page 302) 


Plockhorst 




















Murillo 

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 


(See page 292) 















TO THE REALMS OF ENDLESS DAY. 


3uls 5. 

And the angel answered and said unto the women: Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek 
Jesus which was crucified.—Matthew 28:5. 

T HAT angels have possessed power over matter and rendered 
material substances subservient to their ends, is manifest 
from Scripture; and there is no evidence whatever that any 
special energy was imparted to them by God on those occasions, 
or that He extended His omnipotence when some words were 
uttered, or signs were given by them. For instance, we are not 
to suppose when the angel rolled away the huge stone from the 
door of the sepulcher on the morning of the Savior’s resurrec¬ 
tion, that the Divine Being exerted the energy requisite, and that 
the action was really done by Him, though it appeared to be 
performed by the heavenly messenger. The narrative in this, 
and in similar instances, leads to the conclusion that the actions 
were performed by these Celestial spirits themselves. 

-W. Scott. 

At that wondrous Easter dawn, 

Angels rolled the stone away, 

And our Lord from death arose, 

To the realms of endless daj'. 

Heavenly choirs burst forth in praise, 

All the earth with gladness rang; 

Thus unto the waiting world 
Was the Easter song they sang. 

—Wm. H. Gardiner. 


Around the bloody tree they press, 

The wondrous sight to see, 

The Lord of life expire. 

And when arrayed in light 
He left His dark abode 

They haste in rapturous flight 
Up to the throne of God; 

They waved around their golden wings, 

And struck their harps of sweetest strings. 

—Anonymous. 


- 273 - 


SOOTHING TROUBLED HEARTS. 


3uls 6, 


And the angel said: He is not here; for he is risen, and he said: Come see the place 
where the Lord lay.—Matthew 28:6. 


OME, for angels bid you. Angels said, 4 4 Come see the place 



where the Lord lay.’ ’ The Syriac version reads: 4 4 Come, 

see the place where our Lord lay.” Yes, angels put themselves 
with these poor women, and used one common pronoun, 44 our.” 
Jesus is the Lord of angels as well as men. Ye feeble women, 
ye call Him Master and Lord, and ye do well. 4 4 But, ’ ’ said the 
Seraph, 4 4 He is our Lord too; ’’ bowing his head he said: 4 4 Come 
see the place where our Lord lay.” Dost dread to enter there 
when the angel pointetli with his finger and saith: 4 4 Come, we 
will go together, angels and men, and see the royal bed-chamber! ’ 7 
Ye know that angels did go into His tomb, for they sat, one at 
His head and the other at His feet, in holy meditation. I pic¬ 
ture to myself those bright cherubs sitting there talking to one 
another. One of them said, 4 4 It is where His feet lay; ’ 9 and the 
other replied, 44 And there His hands and there His head;” and 
in celestial language did they talk concerning the deep things of 
God; then they stooped and kissed the rocky floor, made sacred 
to the angels themselves, not because they were redeemed but 
because there their Master and their Monarch, whose high behests 
they were obeying, did for a while become the slave of death, and 
the captive of destruction. Come, Christian, then, for angels are 
the porters to unbar the door; come, for a cherub is thy mes¬ 
senger to guide thee into the death place of death itself. 


—Spurgeon. 


The shining angels cry! Away 
With grief; no spices bring; 


Not tears, but songs, this joyful day 


Should greet the rising King! 


Victor o’er death and hell, 
Cherubic legions swell 


x lawca ail ucavcii aojJiie, 

Each angel sweeps his lyre, 
And claps his wings of fire, 
Thou Lamb once slain. 


The radiant train; 
Praises all heaven aspire; 


—Isaac Watts. 


-274 


SERVING THE SAVIOR. 


3UlS 7. 

And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the 
wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him.—Mark 1:13. 

F OILED, the Enemy has spread his dark pinions towards that 
far-off world of his, and covered it with their shadow. The 
sun no longer glows with melting heat, and in the cool and shade 
that followed, have the angels come and ministered to His wants, 
both bodily and mental. He would not tight and conquer alone 
in His own strength; and He has received power and refresh¬ 
ment, and Heaven’s company unnumbered in their ministry of 
worship. He would not have Satan’s vassals as His legions, and 
all Heaven’s hosts are at his command. It had been victory; it 
is now shouts of triumphant praise. He whom Heaven’s voice 
had proclaimed God’s beloved Son in whom He was well pleased, 
had proved such and done His good pleasure. — Edersheim. 

We live in the light, in the company of angels, of God, and 
Jesus Christ, and therefore should not admit anything that is 
low or mean, unbecoming the rank we keep, and the presence of 
those we frequent. —Archbishop Leighton. 

• 

Calm on the listening ear of night 
Come heaven’s melodious strains, 

Celestial choirs from courts above, 

Shed sacred glories there, 

And angels with their sparkling lyres 
Make music in the air. 

—Geo. B. Nevin. 


— 275 — 


THE LEGEND OF ST. CATHERINE. 


JUlB 8. 

Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous genera¬ 
tion, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of his 
Father with the holy angels,—Mark 8:38. 

T HE consecration of the holy angels is not the putting on of a 
robe, or the exercise of a ministry; it is the divine ownership 
going through and through them, so as to exclude any prelude, 
any faint spot or taint of the thing which is not God’s. 

—Dean Vaughn. 

The legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria teaches that her 
body was borne by angels over the desert and sea to the top of 
Mount Sinai, where it was buried; and later a monastery was 
.built over her sepulcher. In the picture of the “Translation of 
St. Catherine,” St. Michael is one of the four celestial bearers 
of the martyr saint. Besides the representations of angels who 
make a part of the devotional and historical scenes in the lives 
of Christ and the Virgin, there are a great number that illustrate 
the legends of the saints. For example, that of St. Cecilia, whose 
music charmed even the angelic choirs, so that the angels brought 
to her the roses of Paradise, is one of the most beautiful. When 
St. Christina was beaten and thrown into a dungeon, angels bound 
up her wounds, and St. Agatha was comforted by them in her 
prison. These are a few examples of the numerous appearances 
of angels in the legends of the saints. — C. E. Clement. 

Let Him stand in the heavens uplifted 
Beyond llie sound of woe. 

And only the angels speak to Him 
With wondering faces, waxing dim 
And bending ever low— 

As the glory of His lifted face 
Shines brighter through the heavenly place. 

They are praising Him in the dawning 
Of the endless, cloudless day; 

But the songs of praise they used to sing 
Have died on the hills away; 

Not half of all His beauty 

Was known to their hearts till now, 

And new songs rise to the angel-lips 
For the new crowns on His brow. 

- 276 - 


-B. M. 


ANGELS SEXLESS 


3ulg 9. 

When they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; 
but are as the angels which are in heaven.—Mark 12:25. 

T HERE is no distinction of sex among the angels. This is 
implied in the answer which was given by onr Savior to the 
question that the Sadducees put to him in regard to the future 
relation of a woman who was supposed in this world to marry in 
succession seven husbands. — TJatterson. 

The angels are sexless. Like man, they were created “with 
reasonable and immortal souls,” hut unlike him, they were not 
‘ ‘ created male and female. ” “ They neither marry nor are given 
in marriage, hut are as the angels of God.” Angels, being sex¬ 
less, are not a race or species of creatures. They are created one 
by one, as distinct and separate individuals. This is proven by 
the fact that they do not have a common character and history; 
some remain holy and some relapse into sin. — Shedd. 

To angels the heavens ’ illimitable height 
Not this round heaven which we from hence behold, 

Adorn’d with thousand lamps of burning light, 

And with ten thousand gems of shining gold, 

He gave as their inheritance to hold, 

That they might serve Him in eternal bliss, 

And be partakers of these joys of His. 

— Spenser. 


For spirits when they please 
Can either sex assume, or both—so soft 
And uncompounded is their essence pure, 

Not tied or manacled with joint or limb, 

Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, 

Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choow, 

Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, 

Can execute their airy purposes 
And works of love or enmity fulfil. 

—Milton. 


- 277- 


GATHERING THE ELECT. 


3ulB 10. 

And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect.—Mark 13:27. 

A NON-ELECT angel is one who is holy by creation, and hafl 
ample power to remain holy, but is not kept by extraordinary 
grace from an act of sinful self-determination. The perseverance 
of the non-elect angel is left to himself; that of fhe elect angel 
is not. Reprobation in the case of an unfallen angel does not 
suppose sin, but in the case of fallen man it does. A holy angel 
is non-elect' or reprobate, in respect to persevering grace, and the 
consequence is that he may or may not persevere in holiness. 
He may continue holy, or he may apostatize. The decision is 
left wholly to himself. This is not the case with an elect angel. 
He is kept from falling. Election in reference to the angels 
implies: (a) Mutable holiness. Angelic holiness is not self- 
originated, hence not self-subsistent and unchangeable, (b) It 
implies the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the finite will in 
all grades of being; and this in different degrees of efficiency, 
(c) It implies that a part, only, of the angels were placed upon 
probation. The perseverance in holiness of the elect angels was 
secured to them by electing grace. —W. G. T. Shedd. 


Through the midnight heavens an angel flew, 

And a soft low song sang he. 

He sang of the bliss of sinless souls 
'Neath tents of Eden-bowers; 

Of God—the Great One—he sang; and unfeigned 
Was his praise of the Godhead's powers. 

—Lermontov, 

For the Lord our God shall come, 

And shall take His harvest home; 

From His field shall it that day 
All offenses purge away; 

Give His angels charge at last 
In the fire the tares to cast; 

But the fruitful ears to store 
In His garner evermore. 

-Henry Alford. 

- 278 - 


THE KNOWLEDGE OF ANGELS. 


3uls U. 

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in 
heaven, neither the Son but the Father.—Mark 13:32. 

T HE ‘ 4 desire to look into it.’’ With all their powers of inves¬ 
tigation, with all their vast knowledge, here was a matter 
that the angels had not fathomed, and they greatly desired to 
know. Yet scientists sometimes feel that they are so busy as to 
have no time to study this salvation. They are busy at studying 
the structure of crystals. Why, angels know all about them. 
They saw the particles taking their positions. These men are 
busy investigating the strata of the rocks. Why, the angels saw 
the upheaval of the rocks which so diversified and distorted the 
strata. They were then at the formation of the earth and have 
witnessed all the changes. The brightness of the sun does not 
baffle their vision. These men are busy unweaving the rays of 
light. The angels heard God when He spoke: “Let there be 
light .’ 7 All these things which so deeply concern these scientists 
are plain as “A B C” to the holy angels, who, nevertheless, so 
desire to see into the plan of salvation, that subject which the 
scientist deems of so little importance. 

—Bishop M. Simpson, D. D. 


Now from the hill the cloudy curtains rolled, 

And in the lingering luster of the eve, 

Again the Savior and His seraphs shone. 

Emitted sudden in His rising, flashed 
Intenser light, as toward the right-hand host 
Mild turning with a look ineffable, 

The invitation He proclaimed in accents 

Which on their ravished ears poured thrilling, like 

The silver sound of many trumpets heard 

Afar in sweetest jubilee; then, swift 

Stretching His dreadful scepter to the left 

That shot forth horrid lightnings, in a voice 

Clothed but in half its terrors, yet to them 

Seemed like the crash of heaven, pronounced the doom. 

The throne uprose majestically slow; 

Each angel spread his wings, 

And angels ’ voices, and the loud acclaim 
Of all the ransomed, like a thunder-shout. 

—James A. Hillhouse. 


— 279 — 


PERPETUAL YOUTH. 


3Ul£ 12. 

And entering into the sepulchre they saw a young man sitting on the right side, 
clothed in a long white garment. And he saith unto them: Be not affrighted.—Mark 16:5. 

T HOUGH the angels are old, they do not look old, nor are they 
infirm. They are not young in years, nor in wisdom; but 
they are young in freshness and vigor. When the pious women 
went to anoint the body of their Lord they entered the sepulcher 
and ‘ 1 saw a young man on the right side, clothed in a long white 
garment.’’ In no sense are the angels of God subject to decay. 
The Scriptures teach us that they never die. If they were sub¬ 
ject to decay, it might go so far as to produce death. 

—Plumer. 

Mark speaks of the angel as a “young man!” It strikes me 
as very remarkable that this superhuman being should be de¬ 
scribed as “ a young man. ’ ’ Immortal youth, with all of buoyant 
energy and fresh power which the attribute suggests, belongs to 
these beings whom Scripture faintly shows as our elder brethren. 
3To waste decays their strength; no change robs them of their 
forces which have ceased to increase. Age cannot wither them. 
As one of our modern mystics has said: 4 ‘ In heaven the oldest 

angels are the youngest, since all life tends towards immortal 
youth. ’’ — Maclaren. 

We do not know how old the young man was. Angels do not 
pass through the various movements of infancy to old age as 
we—they are created of full stature; they never grow old, and 
they never die. Upon an angel’s brow, time writes no wrinkle 
and age smites with no paralysis of weakness. 

—Anonymous. 

While still the guarding sentry slept 
Upon that glorious night, 

Down from the heavens in countless throngs 
Came angels clothed in white. 

With them they bore a crown of gold 
To grace that Kingly head. 

The stone rolled back. The Lord of Life 
Is risen from the dead. 

—H. Rowe Shelly. 

- 280- 


THE APPARITION OF THE ANGEL. 


3uls 13* 

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord on the right side of the altar. 

—Luke 1:11. 

N EVER, indeed, bad even tradition reported such a vision to 
an ordinary priest, of an angelic person in the act of in¬ 
censing. The two supernatural apparitions recorded—one of an 
angel each year of the Pontificate of Simon the Just; the other 
in that blasphemous account of the vision of the Almighty by 
Ishmael—had both been vouchsafed to High Priests, and on the 
Day of Atonement. Still, there was always uneasiness among 
the people as any mortal approached the immediate Presence of 
God, and every delay in his return seemed ominous. No wonder, 
then, that Zacharias was troubled and fear fell on him, as sud¬ 
denly he beheld what afterwards he knew to be the Angel 
Gabriel (the Might of God). If the apparition of the angel in 
that place, and at that time, had overwhelmed the aged priest, 
the words which he heard must have filled him with such bewil¬ 
derment that for the moment he scarcely realized their meaning. 
One idea alone—a son. It is this demand of some visible sign 
by which to know all that the angel had promised, which dis¬ 
tinguishes the doubt of Zacharias from that of Abraham, or of 
Manoah and his wife, under somewhat similar circumstances. 

—Edersheim. 

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel-mother; 
blessings on her memory! —Abraham Lincoln 

Even while I list such music stealeth 
In upon my soul, 

As though adown heaven’s stair of stars 
The seraph-harpings stole. 

—Gerald Massey. 

0 my Lord Jesus, in the lonely garden, 

Thou hadst Thine Angel of the Agony. 


—Anonymous. 


THY PRAYER IS HEARD. 


3uls 14. 

But the cngel said unto him: Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer is heard.—Luke 1:13. 

I T IS true, if we look for angels with our bodily eyes, or even 
with the eyes of a poet, we shall not see the gleam of white 
pinions speeding along the confines of the glowing sky; we shall 
not hear their songs as the shepherds of Bethlehem heard them. 
Yet they have not all retired forever behind the vale of the visible. 
They may still be seen by the eye and heard by the ear of faith, 
though ‘ 4 There gleams no wing along the Empyrean now.” 

—Rev. A. Harbaugh. 

Can the angels be described, or can they be seen by human 
eyes? We in this world can have no idea of substances that are 
without form and occupy no space. Such are the angels of God. 
At times, however, they have assumed corporeal shape and have 
appeared to men, and occasionally their outward shapes testify 
to their innate grandeur and power. Milton, with his eagle 
imagination, thus paints the Archangel Raphael, whom God is 
sending to our first parents in Paradise to warn them against 
the wiles of Satan: 

So spake the Eternal Father and fulfilled 
All justice, nor delayed the winged saint 
After his charge received; but from among 
Thousand celestial ardors, where he stood, 

Veiled with his gorgeous wings; 

Straight knew him all the bands 
Of angels under w T atch; and to his state, 

And to his message high, in honor rise. 

Him through the spicy forest onward come 
Adam discerned, as in the door he sat. 

—Rev. R. Kennedy. 

To Zacharias, with his spouse grown old, 

John, the forerunner’s course an angel told. 

—James Montgomery. 


- 282 - 


.THE JOYOUS MESSAGE. 


3ulg 15. 

And the angel said: Thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at His 
birth.—Luke 1:14. 

U NTO those who had eyes to see and a soul to understand, 
the Nativity was attended by favorable omens in heaven 
above and on the earth beneath. The story is told in St. Luke’s 
Gospel with a very delicate and lovely touch, and the atmosphere 
is one of great joy and spiritual expectation. The coming of 
Jesus was heralded and celebrated by songs which have passed 
into the praise of the Christian Church. They all sang who had 
to do with the Holy Child—the angels who escorted Him from 
the heavenly places and bore the message of the Divine good 
will; Elizabeth, Zacharias, Simeon, and chiefly the Blessed 
Virgin, on whom the very crown of motherhood rested. 

—Rev. John Watson, D. D. 

Still through the cloven skies they come 
With peaceful wings unfurled, 

And still their heavenly music floats 
O’er all the weary world; 

Above its sad and lowly plains 
They bend on hovering wing; 

And ever o’er its Babel sounds, 

The blessed angels sing. 

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, 

Whose forms are bending low; 

Who toil along the climbing way 
With painful steps and slow,— 

Look now! for glad and golden hours 
Come swiftly on the wing; 

Oh, rest beside the weary road, 

And hear the angels sing. 

—Edmund Hamilton Sears. 


- 283 - 


i 


THE SIGN OF ANGELIC MINISTRY. 


3uls 16. 

And Zacharias said unto the angel: Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, 
and my wife well stricken in years.—Luke 1:18. 

T HE time was ripe in the economy of God for Christ’s advent, 
for man in sin had sunk to deepest depths. But though there 
was no human welcome to Christ, God granted to the men of that 
day certain signs that were wholly supernatural and remarkable. 
He gave the sign of the angelic ministry—the message to Zach¬ 
arias ; the message to Mary; the word to Joseph; the first solo 
of the advent over the plains of Bethlehem. An angel announced 
the coming of the forerunner to Zacharias; an angel announced 
to Mary that she should bring forth a son; an angel warned 
Joseph, and led him out of peril; an angel sang the song of the 
advent to the shepherds, and was joined by a multitude of the 
heavenly chorus; so that the angels, who had so long been silent, 
came again to announce the advent on earth of their King. 

—Bev. G. Campbell Morgan. 

True, she had just been visited by an angel, who had 
apparently dissolved her cloud of fears. 

— Frank W. Gunsaulus, D. I). 

Once, only once, in the revolving years, 

Celestial song has gladdened mortal ears; 

Once, only once, has heaven come down to earth 
With angel tidings of a Savior’s birth. 

—Ella Gilbert Ives. 


- 284 - 


GABRIEL, THE MESSENGER OF GOD. 

3Ul£ 17. 

And the angel answering said unto him: I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of 
God; and am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings.—Luke 1:19. 

T HIS same Gabriel, wlio subsequently annomiced the birth of 
the prophet John, spoke of his own peculiar authority, as, 
‘ ‘ that Gabriel who attended in the presence of God. 7 7 Manifestly 
some such thought as this was to be impressed on Zachariah. As 
you are a priest here in this temple on earth, so am I likewise a 
priest in the temple of heaven. There is something peculiarly 
winsome and familiar in the intercourse which Zachariah, the 
prophet, held with angels. There is an entire absence of that 
consternation and fear and splendor which usually accompanied 
angelic manifestations. Repeatedly does Zachariah say, “1 
talked with the angel,” and “the angel answered me; 77 till we 
are led to ask the question, “Was that angel a messenger of 
inferior rank? Or did he designedly adapt himself to the 
prophet 7 s lowly conditions? 77 —Mrs. Geo. C. Needham. 

Angels are capable of receiving such wisdom because their 
interiors are open; and wisdom, like every other perfection, in¬ 
creases towards the interior. —Swedenborg. 

There was no boundary between earth and Heaven to him. 
The ladder w^as always standing there, and he went up and 
dowm at will with the angels. —Russell H. Conwell. 

I sing the birth was born tonight, 

The Author of both Life and Light; 

The angels so did sound it. 

—Ben Jonson. 


This Gabriel knows and sings thy name 
With rapture on his tongue. 

—Isaac Watts. 


- 285 - 


THEY SERVE ON EARTH AND SING IN HEAVEN. 


3ulE IS. 

And the angel said: Behold thou shalt he dumb and not able to speak, until the day 
that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my works.—Luke 1:20. 

A LL that we know of the angels is, that they serve on earth 
and sing in heaven. All the idea that man can form of the 
ways of Providence, and of the employment of angels and spirits, 
must ever fall short of the reality; hut still it is right to think 
of them. What can have a more exalting influence on the earthly 
life than to make ourselves, in these first days of our existence, 
conversant with the lives of the blessed—with the happy spirits 
whose society we shall hereafter enjoy? We should accustom 
ourselves to consider the spirits of heaven always around us, 
observing all our steps, and witnessing our most secret actions. 
Whoever has become accustomed to this idea will find the most 
solitary place peopled with the best society. 

—Martin Luther. 

I have talked much with angels about innocence, and have been 
told that innocence is the being of all good and that good is there¬ 
fore so far good as it has innocence in it, consequently that wis¬ 
dom is so far wisdom as it partakes of innocence. 

— Swedenborg. 

Hark! hark my soul! Angelic songs are swelling 

O’er earth’s green fields and ocean’s wave-beat shore; 

How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling 
Of that new life when sin shall be no more! 

Angels of Jesus, angels of Light, 

Singing to welcome the pilgrims of the night. 

—Faber. 


- 286 - 


EMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY. 


Julg 19. 

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee 
named Nazareth.—Luke 1:26. 

T HE Archangel Gabriel is mentioned by name but twice in the 
New Testament, in Luke 1:19, 26. On each of these occa¬ 
sions he filled the office of a messenger or bearer of important 
tidings. St. Gabriel has been many times portrayed as the 
messenger announcing the birth of John the Baptist and that of 
Jesus Christ. The great number of the representations of the 
Annunciation to the Virgin Mary make it difficult to select those 
of which to speak. The earliest pictures of this event portray 
it with great simplicity, purity and grace. A spiritual mystery 
is being depicted, and is handled with sincere reverence and the 
utmost delicacy. The scene is usually the portico of an ecclesi¬ 
astical edifice. The archangel is majestic and beautiful; is 
clothed in white, wearing the tunic and pellium. His wings are 
large and brilliant with many colors, and his abundant hair is 
bound with a jeweled tiara. He bears either the scepter of power 
or a lily in one hand, while the other is extended in benediction. 
Sometimes he holds a scroll inscribed with the words, “Ave 
Maria, gratia plena,’’ Hail! Mary, full of grace; which words 
Dante represents Gabriel as constantly repeating in Paradise. 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 


Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, 

Thou and all the angels conversant on earth 
With man or men’s affairs, now I begin 
To verify that solemn message, late 
On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure 
In Galilee that she should bear a son, 

Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God. 

—Milton. 


The Angel (who came down to earth 
With tidings of the peace so many years 
Wept for in vain, that op'd the heavenly gates 
From their long interdict) before us seemed 
In a sweet act, so sculptured to the life, 

He looked no silent image. One had sworn 
He had said: ‘ 1 Hail! ’' for she was imaged there, 

By whom the key did open to God's love. —Dante. 

- 287 - 


GABRIEL'S SYMBOL-THE LILY. 

3Ul£ 20, 

And the angel came in unto her, and said: Hail! thou that art highly favored, the 
Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women.—Luke 1:28. 

O F CHILD angels there is an almost inexhaustible lore. 

Donatello’s winged babes fill many a spandrel most capti- 
vatingly. They beam above a 4 4 Nativity. ’ ’ They weep piteously 
at a 66 Deposition in the Tomb.’’ They clasp bands and sing in 
Tuscan marble groups. Lucca della Robbia ranged them in 
lovely friezes of enameled terra-cotta. In the greatest of all 
sacred pictures, Raphael’s incomparable “san sisto” Madonna, 
it often escapes notice that the whole space behind the figures is 
filled with innumerable cherub faces, giving a sense of multitu¬ 
dinous adoration. But no one forgets the two lovely children 
that look out from the threshold of that faultless composition. 
They stand for the awakening of the infant mind to spiritual 
truths, and may be called Meditation and Contemplation. It is 
infancy consecrated by immortal art. In pictures that represent 
the flight into Egypt the hovering cherubs are supposed to be the 
spirits of the Innocents slain by Herod in Bethlehem. The sub¬ 
ject of child angels leads to that of guardian angels. Recalling 
Browning’s poem “The Guardian Angel of Fano,” we pass from 
the images of the painter to those of the poet. It has been said 
that when Dante is great, nobody surpasses him. Surely in 
portraiture of angels no one equals him. There is a vivid sud¬ 
denness, an awful radiance when they appear in the “Divina 
Commedia,” unique in all poetry. 

Passing from Dante to Tasso is to pass from gold to silver, 
from sunlight to moonlight. Tasso seems too labored, too 
honeyed, too conscious of artistic effect; yet his Gabriel in the 
first canto of the “Gerusalemme Liberata,” v. 104, is very fine: 

“A youth he seemed in manhood ’s ripening years, 

On the smooth cheek where first the down appears, 

Refulgent rays his beauteous locks enfold, 

White are his nimble wings, and edged with gold. 

With these through winds and clouds he cuts his way, 

Flies o’er the land and skims along the sea.” 

—From Essay entitled 41 Angels in Art and Poetry.” 

Archangels leave their high abode 
To learn new mysteries here, and tell 
The love of our descending God— 

The glories of Immanuel. 

- 288 - 


—Anonymous. 



Fritz Von Uhde 

THE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE SHEPHERDS 

(See page 304) 











Miegard 






















THE VISIT TO MARY. 


3Ulg 21. 

And when she saw the angel she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind 
what manner of salutation this should he.—Luke 1:29. 

T HE same heavenly ambassador which appeared to Elizabeth 
was sent to a poor virgin called Mary, who lived in obscurity 
at Nazareth; this virgin being ordained by the Most High to be 
the mother of the great Savior of the wxndd, was saluted by the 
angel in the most respectful terms. Such an address, from so 
exalted a being, greatly alarmed the meek and humble virgin, 
to allay whose fear the angel related, in most rapturous terms, 
the subject of his embassy, that she was chosen of God to the 
great honor of being the mother of the promised and long- 
expected Messiah. —Fleetwood. 

With angels and spirits the interiors determine the face; and 
in the spiritual world quarters are not fixed, as in the natural 
world, but are determined by the face. —Swedenborg. 

God in the midst, Madonna and her babe 
Ringed by a bowery, flowery angel brood. 

—Mrs. Browning. 


Out of all the hundred fair Madonnas, 

Seen in many a rich and distant city,— 

Sweet Madonnas with the mother’s bosom, 

Rapt Madonnas caught in clouds to heaven, 

Clouds of golden, glad, adoring angels; 

Guido’s queen which men and angels worship,— 

Oftenest I shall think of Peruginos. 

—Sir E. Arnold. 


— 289 — 


A COMFORTING ASSURANCE. 


3Ul\? 22. 

And the angel said unto her: Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. 

—Luke 1:30. 

A RE they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister? 

Perhaps you never thought of it, hut those two words in the 
original are not the same, and there is very great beauty, too, in 
the feature of difference. Are they not all “worshiping” 
spirits? Do you not see the beauty of it? To my mind, it links 
heaven to earth more exquisitely than I ever conceived before. 

— W. Morely Pansliou, LL. D. 

Could we better understand the angelical nature, properties; 
and perfection, and what converse and intercourse of these spirits 
is one with the other, and with God, how they love and praise 
Him, and how He communicates Himself to them, we should 
have more worthy and awful thoughts of God, the Maker and 
Lord of them—we should have more worthy thoughts of His 
power, wisdom and greatness. There is a world of thoughts as 
well as men. Oh! glorify the God of angels, magnify Him. 

—Pneumatologia, 1701. 


For Christ is born of Mary, 

And gathered all above; 

While mortals sleep, the angels keep 
Their watch of wondering love. 

We hear the Christmas angels 
The great glad tidings tell; 

Oh, come to us, abide with us, 

Our Lord Immanuel! 

—Phillips Brooks. 


Be still, ye clouds of heaven! 

Be silent, earth! 

And hear an angel tell 
Of Jesus’ birth. 

While she whom Gabriel hails 
As full of grace, 

Listens with humble faith 
In her sweet face. 

- 290 - 


THE ANGEL VISION. 291 

Gather a garland bright 
For Mary’s shrine. 

For on this bless M day 
She knelt at prayer; 

When lo! before her shone 
An angel fair. 

“Hail Mary!” thus he cried 
With reverent fear; 

She with sweet wondering eyes, 

Marveled to hear. 


—Adelaide Proctor. 


SWEETEST NAME IN SERAPH SONG. 


Julg 23. 

And the angel said: Thou shalt bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus. 

—Luke 1:31. 

O F WHAT rank was the Archangel Gabriel who was sent to 
Mary! It is against our preconceived notions to consider 
the Archangel Gabriel as belonging to any of the inferior ranks 
of angels, both because of the dignity of Mary, as well as the 
solemn, tremendous and absolutely unique mission on which he 
came. The question arises, then, Is any member of the higher 
choirs ever sent on a message to earth! St. Athanasius, Scotus, 
Molina, say yes. Great names say so. St. Dionysius, Bonaven- 
ture, St. Thomas; Suarez, however, says that God does sometimes 
dispense with the laws that guide the angelic kingdom, as He 
does in the case of miracles on earth; and the common belief is 
that Gabriel must be one of the highest of the order of Seraphim, 
if not the very highest, because of the Incarnation. 

—The Holy Angels. 


Gold, gold, gold and gold 
Gleam a hundred angels ’ wings, 

When Mary wraps Him fold in fold 
In swaddling bands and sings: 

Queis Puero et Virgini 
Exultant omnes Angeli. 

—Selwyn Image. 


Now, let us sing the Angels’ Song 
That rang so sweet and clear 
When heavenly light and music fell 
On earthly eye and ear. 

To Him we sing, our Savior King, 
Who always deigns to hear: 

11 Glory to God! and peace on earth!” 


He came to bring a glorious gift, 
“Good will to men”—and why! 
Because He loved us, Jesus came 
For us to live, and die. 

- 292 - 


298 


* 1 GLORY TO G#D AND PEACE ON EARTH. ’ * 

Then sweet and long the angel’s song 
Again we raise on high: 

11 Glory to God! and peaee on earth!” 

—Francis Ridley Havergal. 

Hark! the sound of angel-voices 
Over Bethlehem’s star-lit plain; 

Hark! the heavenly host rejoices, 

Jesus comes on earth to reign. 

See celestial radiance beaming, 

Lighting up the midnight sky; 

’Tis the promised day-star gleaming, 

’Tis the day-spring from on high. 

—Rebecca Phoenix Coe. 


GUARDIAN OF CELESTIAL TREASURY. 


$Ul\? 24. 

And the angel said: He shall he great, and shall he called the Son of the Highest; 
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.—Luke 1:32. 

M ARY is grave and sedate. By her side a lily is growing in 
a pitcher. Gabriel, discreetly robed in white, stands be¬ 
hind the Virgin and speaks to her. He looks somewhat heavy, 
as if flight might be difficult to him, but his aspect is very 
benignant. He is such an angel as such a Virgin would have 
liked to see. —Henry Van Dyke. 

Gabriel, the gentle angel of the Annunciation, the Trumpeter 
of the Judgment Day, is particularly dear to us, as it was 
through him came the glad tidings of redemption. —By M. 

Gabriel (God is my strength) is the guardian of the celestial 
treasury; a bearer of important messages; the angel of the An¬ 
nunciation; and the preceptor of the patriarch Joseph. His 
symbol is the lily. Gabriel naturally came to be regarded as the 
angel who presides over child-birth. —Clara E. Clement. 

Medieval tradition assumed to know the names and functions 
of heavenly beings. Modern thought makes no such claim. 
Early Catholic teaching told of Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and 
gave to one his warrior’s sword, to the other his pilgrim’s staff, 
to the third his perfumed branch of lilies. In place of these leg¬ 
ends there has grown up a larger symbolism—vague, yet under¬ 
stood of all men, whatever their creed or nationality. We speak 
of the Recording Angel, the Angel of Peace, of Death, of the 
Resurrection. Again, in olden times tradition had devised a 
species of heavenly livery corresponding with the wearer’s rank 
in supposed celestial hierarchy. The color for seraphs was red, 
cherubs blue, and so on. —Isabel McDougal. 

We are lilies fair, 

The flowers of virgin light; 

Nature held us forth and said 
“Lo! my thought of white.” 

— 204 — 


“ANGELS HOLD US IN THEIR HANDS.” 


295 


Ever since then, angels 
Hold us in their hands; 

You may see them when they take 
In picture their sweet stands. 

—Leigh Hunt. 


Lowliest of women, and most glorified! 

In thy still beauty sitting calm and lone, 

A brightness round thee grows—and by thy side, 
Kindling the air, a form ethereal shone, 
Solemn, yet breathing gladness. 


—Mrs. Hemans. 


ANGELS PICTURED BY ARTISTS. 


JUlE 25. 

Then said Mary unto the angel: How shall this be?—Luke 1:34. 

I N THE famous painting of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico, 
we find the simplest of scenes. The Archangel, clad in a robe 
of sparkling color, and having a glorious halo of gems and gold 
around his head of sunny curls, enters through a colonnade to the 
Madonna, who is seated. —Geo. C. Williamson. 

Of the Madonna Dolorosa is the famous tondo of Botticelli. 
A beautiful angel turns upwards his melancholy gaze towards 
the Mother. Her eyes and her thoughts are far away. Even 
the angels, lovely as they are, show an almost human despair in 
their angelic hearts. They are wholly unlike the incarnate Inno¬ 
cences of Fra Angelico, with their robes of tender hues, and their 
many-colored, sunlit wings. Still less do they resemble the 
radiant child-denizens of heaven, as Bellini, Raphael, Francia, 
Carpaccio or Boccaci painted them. As we look at them we al¬ 
most fancy that they hurst into “such tears as angels weep.” 
Angelico's Annunciations mark no special advance, except in 
their heavenliness. His best is the one in the Convent of St. 
Marco. The angel is perhaps less majestic than is usual with 
this painter, but the Virgin is only the more to he worshiped, 
because here, for once, she is set before us in the verity of life. 
The beautiful Gabriel bends before the Virgin, with his arms 
crossed on his breast, and the painter may have had in his mind 
the lovely passage of Dante, which is in itself a picture of the 
Annunciation in clear and glowing verse. —Farrar. 

But at her side 
An angel doth abide 
With such perfect joy 
As no dim doubts alloy; 

An intuition, 

A glory, an amenity, 

Passing the dark condition 
Of poor humanity, 

As if he surely knew 

All the blest wonders should ensue. 


- 296 - 


—Charles Lamb. 


ANGELS IN SCULPTUBE. 


3ul\> 26 . 

And the angel answered and said unto her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, 
and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing that 
shall he horn of thee shall be called the Son of God.—Luke 1:35. 

T HE pictures of the Madonna, or Virgin Mary, may be divided 
into two classes: the devotional, which illustrate the doctrines 
or teaching of the early Church; and the historical, or the repre¬ 
sentation of the actual scenes in the life of the Mother of Christ. 
When the Virgin is represented wearing a crown or hearing a 
scepter, and attended by worshiping angels, she is in the character 
of the Queen of Angels. Perhaps there are no artistic representa¬ 
tions that appealed to a greater number of people, of all possible 
types, than do those of angels in both sculpture and painting. 
One reason for this seems to me to be that angels represent our 
highest ideal of created beings—beings that we can only realize 
through the power of imagination, either our own imagination 
or that of another. It is well worth while to study the various 
types of angels which are a rich portion of the legacies of the 
artists to the world. It is surely right to attempt to imagine 
the glories of a sphere beyond this—a heaven of purity and glory. 

There have been many curious conceits introduced into some 
of the early religious pictures, and I have seen two instances in 
which little seraphim and angels are perched on trees, near the 
Virgin and the Holy Child. The idea seems to be that these 
“Birds of God”—as Dante calls the angels—are making music 
and singing for the Divine Infant, some of them also praying 
for His solace. — G. E. Clement. 


The Angel who to earth the news made known 
Of peace that men had wept for many a year, 

And heaven long barred and closed had open thrown, 

Before us stood in sculptured form so clear, 

In attitude that sweetest thought betrayed, 

That he no speechless image did appear. 

One could have sworn that he his Ave said; 

For there, too, in clear-imaged form, was she 
Who turned the key that high love open laid, 

And on her mien is written, one might see 
“Ecce An cilia Dei” full as plain 
As figures that on wax imprinted be. —Dante. 

- 297 — 


THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 


JUlg 27. 

And the angel said: Behold with God nothing is impossible.—Luke 1: 37. 

F IVE HUNDRED years elapse between the recorded advents 
of the Archangel Gabriel; but it is the same mighty Prince 
of the Heavenly Hierarchy who stands again upon the earth. He, 
unchanged by the hand of the time (for time is not in the realms 
of bliss), is the same spiritual being who was sent by the mys¬ 
terious Voice to interpret to Daniel, “the greatly beloved,’’ the 
vision on the banks of the Ulai, and who came centuries later to 
Zacharias, “the righteous before God,” amidst the gorgeous 
ritual of the Temple at Jerusalem; and again to the highly 
favored and ever Blessed Virgin of Nazareth. To Daniel he was 
made known by the command from on high, “Gabriel, make this 
man to understand the vision. ’ ’ To Zacharias he announced his 
name and office: “1 am Gabriel that stand in the presence of 
God.” To the Blessed Virgin it was sufficient that he came from 
on high; her faith and humility needed no further proof. He 
who comes thus had descended from the court of the Heavenly 
King; he had come from an atmosphere of love, pure, satisfying 
love; from the realms of perfect bliss, to announce God’s love 
and mercy toward men. His office had none of the mystic power 
of “the great Prince,” St. Michael, who comes before us as the 
great leader in the struggle against the strong but fallen Powers 
of Evil. Gabriel announces God’s purposes, Michael enforces 
them. The first half of Gabriel corresponds to the word 4 ‘ Geber, ’ ’ 
translated “man,” and signifies “man of God” or “man God”— 
the strong man of God. Daniel is the first writer who records 
the names of angels. The two Archangels, Michael and Gabriel, 
named by him, are the only two found in the canon of Scripture; 
others are, however, mentioned in apocryphal writings several 
centuries after those named by Daniel. 

—By author of “Gabriel, the Archangel.” 

The angel who presided at my birth 

Said: “Little creature formed of joy and mirth, 

Go, love without the help of anything on earth.” 

—William Blake. 

- 298 - 


“STILL HOPE AND TRUST.” 


209 


If the angels who attended 
To declare the Savior’s birth, 

Who from heaven with sons descended 
To proclaim good-will to earth; 

If in pity of our blindness, 

They had brought the pardon needed, 

Still Jehovah’s wondrous kindness 
Had our warmest hopes exceeded. 

— Hannah More. 

A rustling as of wing’s in flight, 

An upward gleam of lessening white, 

So passed the vision, sound and sight. 

But romid me, like a silver bell 
Rung down the listening sky to tell 
Of holy help, a sweet voice fell: 

“Still hope and trust,” it sang; “the rod 
Must fall, the wine-press must be trod 
But all is possible with God.” 

—J. G. Whittiei 


* 




THE MYSTIC ROSE. 


3Ul£ 28. 

And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; he it unto me according to thy 
word! And the angel departed from her.—Luke 1:38. 

B UT if fancy may revel among the opening pages of the 
world’s history and gather a wealth of imagery around 
these guardians and ministers to the wants of the young creation 
—how much richer and more replete with beauty is the wonderful 
and awesome epoch of the coming of the lost world’s Savior! 
And here, we know that not the wildest dreaming, not the utmost 
exuberance of imagination can approach the truth. 

And now the flower from the root of Jesse is about to bloom. 

. . . Fifteen years, as we count time, and then the Archangel 

Gabriel comes to Zachary. How impatiently must this gentle 
spirit have waited for the intervening six months to pass. 

“He bore the palm 

Down unto Mary when the Son of God 
Vouchsafed to clothe Him in terrestrial weeds.” 

Thus Dante saw him and thus Angelico has painted him. At 
the first look of the Omnipotent, indicating the Divine will, the 
gracious messenger raises his pinions all glowing with the light 
of the Divine Complaisance above his head, rises upon them 
above the watching throngs and sweeps through the ether to that 
small house of Nazareth; standing before her whom he has 
watched over and loved as only angels love, bending his star- 
crowned head and veiling his radiant face with his pulsing 
pinions, he hails her, 11 full of grace.” 

The watching angels who have accompanied him wait as do 
the mighty hosts, the numberless spirits in the sphere whence 
they have just descended—upon that weak woman’s answer. She 
questions and is answered, and then, “ Behold the handmaid of 
the Lord. ’ ’ Hark to the angelic hosannas! They echo down the 
centuries bearing superhuman strength and heavenly consolation 
to hearts “weary with dragging the crosses” of an existence 
otherwise beyond all mortal bearing. 

eneeforth it would seem that the courts of the King of kings 
- 300- 


ANGEL VOICES RING. 


301 


must be deserted, so dense is the throng of angels in that small 
corner of the world where dwells the Mystic Rose. They crowd 
the house at Nazareth all the day, they hover over the slumbers 
of their queen during the midnight watches, and when she moves 
abroad surely she of Sheba was not more magnificently attended. 
Angels sustain her footsteps, archangels shadow her with their 
wings lest the Syrian sun beat upon her head too fiercely, the 
winds of the Syrian desert assail her form too roughly. The 
principalities and dominations watch her lest she grow weary, 
the virtues lead her gently, the powers ward off the evil one who 
will not believe that earth holds a mortal who is not his lawful 
prey. Above, in the blue arch of heaven, the higher choirs chant 
the praises of the Creator in that Pie has shown such mercy to 
man, and has had regard to the humility of Ilis handmaid. Verily 
is she to be called ‘ ‘ blessed. ’ 9 — M. 

Bright angels are around tliee, 

They that have served thee from thy birth, and there 

Their hands with stars have crowned thee; 

Thou peerless Queen of Air, 

As sandals to thy feet the silver moon dost wear. 

—Longfellow. 

Golden harps are sounding 
Angel voices ring, 

Pearly gates are opened, 

Opened for the King. 


—F. R. Havergal. 


THE PRINCE OF PEACE. 


JUlg 29. 

And loJ the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 
about them; and they were sore afraid.—Luke 2:9. 

T HE humble cave of Bethlehem is now the center of attraction 
to the heavenly hosts. In the deep silence of the midnight 
hour, whilst animate and inanimate nature slept, a light from 
heaven shone over the humble manger and angels worshiped 
God-made man. Leaving the rich and learned of the earth to 
discover the meaning of the new star seen in the eastern heavens, 
a message of simplest wording, requiring no interpretation, is 
sent to the lowly shepherds. All suddenly, they know not whence 
he came, a radiant form stands beside them, 4 4 and the brightness 
of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great 
fear.” But a melodious voice sounded in their ears, speaking 
words of comfort. 44 Fear not,” said the angel, 44 for behold I 
bring you good tiding of great joy, which shall be to all the 
people. For this day is born to you a Savior who is Christ the 
Lord.” And then there appeared a multitude of the heavenly 
host, praising God and saying, 4 4 And saying glory in the highest, 
and on earth, peace. ’’ When the awed listeners to this heavenly 
harmony spoke, how discordant must not their voices have 
sounded, even to themselves. There is no event in all the child¬ 
hood around which more graceful legends have clustered than the 
flight into Egypt. Angels are particularly busy here, from the 
one who roused Joseph from his sleep saying, 4 4 Arise and take 
the Child and His mother and fly into Egypt,” to the dainty 
cherubs who poise themselves among the branches of the sycamore 
trees. Angels lead the ass upon which our Lady rides, and angels 
bring them food, arrange for their shelter at nightfall, lead the 
way through the wearying desert and along the barren sea coast. 
And when the time is come for the return to Nazareth an angel 
again leads the way. The helpless infancy is passed, and with 
His parents He goes up to Jerusalem. And afterwards? The 
record of the next eighteen years is summed up in five words. 
We would fain know more, our hearts yearn over that sweet group 
at Nazareth j such never was womanhood more perfect, mother- 

*- 302 -^ 


“TO-DAY THE PRINCE OF PEACE IS BORN.7 


303 


hood more tender. And far beyond all reverend homage and 
loving service rendered by Son to parent, was the filial abnegation 
of that Boy. For “He was subject to them .’ 5 That is all. We 
would question of the ministering spirits something of those 
precious years, that wonderful childhood, that gracious youth, 
that benignant early manhood; but all is silence. There we must 
leave Him in that humble cottage beneath the shadow of the 
Galilean mountains, with the angels for His playfellows while 
He grows in grace with God and man. — M. 

“What means this glory round our feet,” 

1 The Magi mused, “more bright than morn?” 

And voices chanted, clear and sweet, 

“Today the Prince of Peace is born.” 

“What means that star,” the shepherds said, 

“That brightens through the rocky glen?” 

And angels, answering overhead, 

Sang, “Peace on earth, good will to men.” 

And they who do their souls no wrong, 

But keep at eve the faith of morn, 

Shall daily hear the angel’s song, 

; 1 Today the Prince of Peace is born! ? * 

—James Russell Lowell. 


GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 


JUl£ 30, 


And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of 
great joy which shall be to all people.—Luke 2:10. 


HRIST was born not merely nor simply for the delight and 



joy of the angels, but especially for the redemption of man. 
And man must hear the glad tidings. But who shall bear them? 
Wp know not who the honored angel was. His name is not re¬ 
corded in our Gospels. No doubt, however, he was high among 
the ranks and orders of the heavenly hierarchies. For when he 
appears, the glory of the Lord has so enswathed them that it 
shines all around the shepherds and bathes the plains with its 
rosy light, its celestial radiance. — Eev. Lewis E. Dunn. 

There is a beautiful legend, however, which tells how one 
shepherd did miss what the others enjoyed that night, and yet 
was not a loser. The legend relates that one of the shepherds 
was kept at home, watching a fevered guest, the night the angels 
came to Bethlehem with the announcement of the birth of Jesus, 
and sang their songs of joy. The other shepherds saw the heav¬ 
enly host, heard their song, and beheld the glory. Betuming 
home, their hearts were wondrously elated. But all the night 
Shemuel sat alone by the restless sufferer and waited. His 
fellow-shepherds pitied his deprivation—that he missed the vision 
and the glory which they had seen. But in his lowly serving, 
Shemuel had blessing and reward of his own. He missed, indeed, 
the splendor of that night in the fields, and in his serving he gave 
his own life; but his eyes saw then a more wondrous glory than 
that which his fellow-shepherds had seen: 


“ Shemuel, by the fever bed, 

Touched by beckoning hands that led, 


Died and saw the Uncreated; 
All his fellows lived and waited.’’ 


Par away in an Eastern country, 
On a peaceful plain, 


—Anonymous. 



ADORATION 

(See page 316) 





















"■ ><. ■ ■ 


/r. S* 


«*w 


THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST 

(See page 320) 


Hofmann 















“FEAR NOT, LITTLE BAND OF WATCHERS.” 


305 


Watchful shepherds their flocks were guarding, 
Where for rest their folds had lain. 

Suddenly a great light breaketh 
O’er the little fold, 

And a voice so strangely tender 
Spake the words foretold: 

“Fear not, little band of watchers, 

Only peace our message brings; 

Peace on earth, good will to men, 

The harmony of heaven sings. 

This the message bear we to you, 

Filled with peace, and joy, and light; 

In the little town of Bethlehem, 

Lies the Savior, born tonight.” 


—W. A. W. 


GLORIA IN EXCELSIS. 


3uls 31. 

For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. 

—Luke 2:11. 

T ODAY I want you, for once, to think of this—that it was a 
hymn; that these angels were singing, even as human beings 
sing. Music has been called the speech of angels; I will go 
further and call it the speech of God Himself. Music is a pattern 
and type of heaven, and of the everlasting life of God, which 
perfect spirits live in heaven; a life of melody and order in 
themselves; a life of harmony with each other, and with God. 
Some of us may not be able to make music with our voices, but 
we can make it with our hearts, and join in the angels’ song this 
day, if not with our lips, yet in our lives. On this day began 
that perfect melody of the Son’s life on earth; one song and 
poem, as it were, of wise words, good deeds, spotless purity and 
untiring love, which He perfected when He died and rose again, 
and ascended on high forever to make intercession for us with 
music sweeter than the song of angels and archangels, and all 
the heavenly host. —Charles Kingsley. 

Under the starry heavens, along the lonely hillsides, these 
shepherds are keeping their watch; suddenly the angel of the 
Lord comes upon them, the glory of the Lord encompasses them 
with a girdle of light brighter than the midday sun could have 
thrown around them. 4 ‘ Fear not, ’ ’ says the angel; ‘ 4 for behold, 
I bring you good tidings of great joy.” . . . But they had 

something more to see and hear ere their visit to the village is 
paid. The voice of that single angel has scarce died away in 
the silence of the night—lost in wonder they are still gazing on 
his radiant form—when suddenly a whole multitude of the heav¬ 
enly host bursts upon their astonished vision, lining the illumi¬ 
nated heavens. Human eyes never saw before nor since so large 
a company of the celestial inhabitants hovering in our earthly 
skies; and human ears never heard before nor since such a 
glorious burst of heavenly praise as those angels then poured 
forth—couching it in Hebrew speech, their native tongue for the 

- 306 - 


THE COMING OF THE KING. 


307 


time foregone, that these listening shepherds may catch up at 
once the cradle-hymn that heaven now chants over the new-born 
Savior. —Rev. William Hanna, D. D., LL. D. 

The sky can still remember 
The earliest Christmas morn, 

When in the cold December 
The Savior Christ was born. 

And still in darkness clouded 
And still in noon-day light, 

It feels its far depths crowded 
With angels fair and bright. 

0, never failing splendor! 

0, never silent song! 

Still keep the green earth tender, 

Still keep the gray earth strong. 

0, angels, sweet and splendid, 

Throng in our hearts and sing 

The wonders which attended 
The coming of the King. 


—Phillips Brooks. 






I 

BOOK VIII. 


Huoust. 

































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I 














Hugust 


THE ANGEL AND THE SHEPHERDS. 

Hugust l. 

And this shall he a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 
lying in a manger.—Luke 2:12. 

T HERE is something so unspeakably great and glorious in this 
union of earthly obscurity with heavenly splendor, of angels 
with shepherds, of the form of a servant with the majesty of a 
king, that the well-known saying, “It is not thus invented,” can 
never be better applied than to the whole narrative. 

—E. F. Van Osterzee. 

The birth of the Savior was not without attestations of His 
Divine glory. If His birth was mean on earth below, it was 
celebrated with hallelujahs by the heavenly host in the air above. 
The 4 4 Onomasticon 9 9 of Eusebius informs us that about ‘ ‘ a thou¬ 
sand paces from Bethlehem stands a tower called Elder—that is, 
the tower of the Shepherds—a name which foreshadowed the 
, angelic appearance to the shepherds at the birth of our Lord. 

—Geikie. 


All my heart this night rejoices 
As I hear, far and near, 

Sweetest angel voices; 

‘ 1 Christ is born! ’* their choirs are singing, 

Till the air everywhere 
Now with joy is ringing. 

—C. Winkworth. 

Run, shepherds, run, where Bethlehem blest appears. 

We bring thee best news; be not dismayed; 

-311- 



CROWN THE SPIRIT. 

A Savior there is born more old than years, 

Amidst heaven ’s rolling height this earth who stayed 
In a poor cottage inned, a virgin maid 
A weakling did him bear, who all us bears; 

There is He poorly swaddled, in manger laid, 

To whom too narrow swaddlings are our spheres: 

Run, shepherds, run, and solemnize His birth. 

This is that night—no, day—grown great with bliss, 

In which the power of Satan broken is. 

In heaven be glory, peace unto the earth! 

Thus singing, through the air the angels swarm, 

And cope of stars re-echoed the same. 

—Drummond. 

Elysian race, while o’er their slumbering flocks 
The Galilean shepherd watched, ye came 
To sing hosannas to the heaven-born Babe, 

And shed the brightness of your beauty round; 

Nor have ye left the world, but still, unseen, 

Surround the earth, as guardians of the good, 

Inspiring souls, and leading them to heaven! 

And oh! when shadows of the state unknown 
Advance, and life endures the grasp of death, 

Tis yours to hallow and illume the mind; 
he starry wreath to bring, by angels worn, 

And crown the spirit for her native sphere. 

—Anonymous. 


A JOYOUS COMPANY OP SINGERS. 


Hugust 2. 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, 
saying.—Luke 2:13. 

I T WAS as if attendant angels had only waited the signal. As, 
when the sacrifice was laid on the altar, the Temple-music 
burst forth in three sections, each marked by the blast of the 
Itriests’ silver trumpets, as if such psalm were to he a “Tris- 
Hagion, ’ ’ so, when the Herald-Angel had spoken, a multitude of 
heaven’s host stood forth to hymn the good tidings he had 
brought. What they sang was but the reflex of what had been 
announced. It told, in the language of praise, the character of 
what had taken place. Heaven took up the strain of glory; earth 
echoed it as ‘ 4 peace;” it fell on the ears and hearts of men as 
‘ ‘ good pleasure. ’ ’ Only once before had the words of the angels ’ 
hymn fallen upon mortal ears, when, to Isaiah’s rapt vision, 
heaven’s high temple had opened, and the glory of Jehovah swept 
its courts. Now the same glory enrapt the shepherds on Beth¬ 
lehem’s plains. The hymn had ceased; the light faded out of 
the sky; and the shepherds were alone. But the angelic message 
remained with them. — Edersheim. 


There were whisperings in the heavens, 

There were murmurings in the clouds; 

There were harp-tones full of sweetness 
From the joyous angel crowds; 

There were songs from holy voices, 

There was brightness o’er the morn, 

And nature thrilled with gladness 
When our Savior Christ was born. 

—Anonymous. 


Hark! the herald angels' sing 
Glory to the new-born King, 
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, 
God and sinners reconciled. 
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, 

Join the triumph of the skies; 
With the angelic host proclaim, 
Christ is born in Bethlehem. 
Hark! the herald angels sing 
Glory to the new-born King. 


313- 


—Charles Wesley. 


THE WORLD’S SWEETEST SONS. 


august 3. 

And the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
toward men.—Luke 2:14. 

O N THAT night, indeed, it seemed as if the heavens must 
hurst to disclose their radiant minstrelsies; and the stars, 
and the feeding sheep, and the light and sound in the darkness 
and stillness, and the rapture of faithful hearts, combine to fur¬ 
nish us with a picture painted in the colors of heaven. 

—Farrar. 

The song of the herald angels was the best and sweetest the 
world has ever heard. Watchers by the sick that night heard 
the sweet melodies of heaven and were comforted; a dreaming 
boy once saw the pearly doors of God’s house open and angels 
pouring forth their songs; a mother once heard the angels sing 
as they passed over her head, and she never forgot the joy it 
gave her, but this song was the best of all songs. It did not last 
very long, though; it was just like a great many of the sweet 
things of earth—soon over; and the joyous company of singers 
took their way back to heaven. —Alfred Fowler. 

You will observe that the angels in this song were not recom¬ 
mending peace, but proclaiming it. They are not exhorting men, 
but praising God. Their language is not that of our Lord when 
He said, 4 ‘ Blessed are the peacemakers; ’ ’ or of the Apostle Paul 
when he exhorted Christians to “live peaceably with all men;” 
the words of the heavenly host are not a precept or a persuasion 
to peace, but an announcement of it, as a part of the “gospel (or 
good tidings) of great joy” which they were commissioned to 
bring. —Archbishop Wliately. 

It is not possible for us to apprehend all the spiritual beauty 
which lay deep down, glorifying God, in this devotion of the 
angels. It is plainly a devotion of joy, of such joy as angels 
can feel. It was joy in a mystery long pondered, long expected, 
yet whose glory took them by surprise when at length it came. 

-314- 


NO MENTION OE THEMSELVES. 


315 


It was a joy full of unselfishness towards men whose nature was 
at that moment triumphing over theirs. In their song they made 
no mention of themselves, only of God in the highest, and then 
of men on earth. How beautiful, how holy, in this silence about 
themselves. —Faber. 


0! lovely voices of the sky, 

Which hymned the Savior’s birth, 
Are ye not singing still on high, 

Ye that sang “Peace on Earth?” 
To us yet speaks the strains, 
Wherewith, in time gone by, 

Ye blessed the Syrian swains, 

O! voices of the sky. 


—Mrs. Hemans. 


A PROPHESY FULFILLED. 


HUflUSt 4. 

As the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one 
another: Let us now go even unto Bethlehem. And they came with haste and found the 
babe lying in a manger.—Luke 2:15. 

O NE mile from Bethlehem is a little plain in which, under a 
grove of olives, stands the bare and neglected chapel known 
by the name, 4 ‘ The Angel to the Shepherds. ’ ’ The Chapel of the 
Herald Angels is a mere rude crypt; the poverty of the chapel 
harmonizes well with the humble toil of those whose radiant vision 
it is intended to commemorate. The shepherds made their way 
to the inn of Bethlehem when those angel songs had ceased to 
break the starry silence, and found Maiy and Joseph and the 
babe lying in the manger. The fancy of poet and painter has 
alike reveled in the imaginary glories of the scene. They have 
sung of the ‘ 4 bright harnessed angels ’ ’ who hovered there,* and 
of the stars lingering beyond their time to shed their sweet influ¬ 
ence upon that smiling infancy. They have painted the radiation 
of light from the manger-cradle, illuminating all the place till 
the bystanders are forced to shade their eyes from that heavenly 
splendor. But all this is wide of the reality. ’ Such glories as 
the simple shepherds saw were seen only by the eye of faith. 

—Farrar. 

The shepherds went hack to their sheep. They had seen their 
only angels. The next night, the next year, brought no more. 
They talked all their lives about this one great experience. Did 
they search the skies midnight upon midnight for that flower of 
life? Did they tell the children’s children how the splendid 
Oriental zenith burst that only time into celestial bloom? How 
the soft winter wind broke into articulate speech? How he 
looked—the mighty one, who was Gabriel of the heavenly host? 
And how they found that spirits spoke the truth? For there was 
the Child and the manger. — E. Stuart Phelps. 

But see the Virgin blest 
Hath laid her babe to rest 
And all about the courtly stable 

Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable. —Milton. 
-316- 


SWEETER THAN A MOTHER’S SONG. 


31 


The shepherds went their hasty way, 

And found the .lowly stable-shed 
Where the Virgin-Mother lay. 

They told her how a glorious light, 

Streaming from a heavenly throng, 

Around them shone, suspending night! 

While sweeter than a mother’s song 
Blest angels heralded a Savior’s birth. 
il Glory to God on high! And peace on earth!” 

—Coleridge. 


Seraphs with elevated strains, 

Circle the throne around, 

And move and charm the starry plains 
With an immortal sound. 

Jesus the Lord, their harps employ, 
Jesus my love, they sing, 

Jesus, the name of both our joys, 
Sounds sweet from every string. 


—Isaac Watts. 


SWEETEST NOTE IN SERAPH’S SONG. 


august 5. 

His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived 
in the womb.—Luke 2:21. 

I T WAS on this day that Christ first publicly received the name 
of Jesus which the command of the angel Gabriel had already 
announced. In Carpaccio’s 11 Presentation in the Temple, ’ ’ paint¬ 
ed in 1510, and now in the Venice Academy, the painter reaches 
his highest height. Simeon is met by the Virgin, who carries in 
her arms a noble child. On the marble steps beneath are three 
wingless angioletti, with flute and viols, of whom the one in the 
center is perhaps the most charming figure Carpaccio ever 
painted. —Farrar. 

Since the great God designed a creation for His own glory, it 
became Him to erect a most splendid house, where He would he 
most seen and best served. It became Him to have a vast retinue 
of splendid domestics surrounding His throne, applauding His 
majesty, attending His commands, ready to execute His pleasure 
in any part of His dominions. These are usually called angels 
in Scripture, concerning whom the Scripture-Kevelation, being 
hut concise and brief, leads us to such inquiries as set forth in 
these ‘ ‘ Inquiries concerning the state and economy of the Angel¬ 
ical Worlds.’’ —John Eeynolds, 1723. 

How solemnly, how divinely, the holy drama of a new revela¬ 
tion opens! An angel from heaven, a man on earth—these are 
invariably the two chief characters in the sacred story; heaven 
acting upon earth, man brought into contact with the beings of 
the invisible world. On one hand, an Israelite, one of the peculiar 
people to whom the provinces belong; more, one of its priests 
appointed to plead for God to man, and for man to God; one 
especially chosen out of the chosen nation.. On the other, “I, 
Gabriel, that stand before the presence of God.” The scene is 
the most sacred spot of the whole earth. Could the opening of 
the divine N. T. drama he more solemn, more appropriate, more 
sacred, either as regards person, place, time or action? 

—Pfenninger. 


-318- 


BENEDICTIONS OF LOVE. 


319 


In the set noon of time, shall one from heaven, 

An angel fresh from looking upon God, 

Descend before a woman, blessing her 
With perfect benediction of pure love. 

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

Sweetest note in Seraph’s song, 

Sweetest name on mortal tongue; 

Sweetest carol ever sung— 

Jesus, precious Jesus! 

—Anonymous. 

Crowds of snow-white angels 
Throng the golden stairs; 

All things are delightful, 

All things passing fair; 

Bells, clear music making, 

Peal the news to earth; 

Chimes within make answer, 

All is glee and mirth. 


William C. Dix. 


“HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER THEE, TO KEEP 

THEE.” 

august 6. 

For it is written: He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee.—Luke 4:10. 

1 LIKE to think that the angel who was specially appointed to 
be onr guardian during our earthly pilgrimage has his frequent 
errands to our homes and hearts from childhood to old age. We 
are told that in heaven their (the children’s) angels do always 
behold the face of our Father. As we remain children in knowl¬ 
edge and understanding even when gray hairs have crowned our 
temples, we cannot imagine the guardian angel ever laying down 
his commission. Many an invisible foe he fights with, that we 
may pass scathless; many an unseen danger never touches us, 
because between it and us the angel-shield is interposed; many 
a hopeful message he brings us from our Savior’s loving heart, 
and many a consolatory word he speaks in our times of anguish 
and grief. Always our own angel, hovering over cradle, over 
pillow, over task, over toil, over strife, over death-bed, and ready 
when the summons come to waft us to the mansions of the 
blessed. —Margaret E. Sangster. 

But the sword that pierced your heart forced an entrance for 
angels, who had been knocking where there was no door—until 
then. — M. Cholmondeley. 

Thy ministering spirits descend 

To watch while Thy saints are asleep, 

By day and by night they attend, 

The heirs of salvation to keep; 

Bright seraphs dispatched from the throne 
Repair to the stations assigned, 

And angels elect are sent down 
To guard the elect of mankind. 

—Toplady. 


-320 



CHRIST ON THE CROSS 


M. Feust 


(See page 330) 


















Rubens 

CHRIST, ST. JOHN AND HIS ANGELS 

(See page 403) 



ANGELS OF BEAUTY 


Saintpierre 


(See page 328) 












“THE ANGELS NOT ONLY WITH YOU, BUT FOR YOU.’* 

Hugust 7, 


For whosoever shall he ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man 
be ashamed when He shall come in his own glory and in his Father’s and <rf the holy 
angels.—Luke 9:26. 



E, WHO hope one day to partake of the nature of angels, 


V V should make it our delight even here below to imitate their 
heavenly tempers, and join in their holy employment; like them, 
to be ever ready to praise God and do His pleasure; to fulfill His 
commandments and hearken unto the voice of His words. Thus, 
from meditating on these holy beings, do we learn how we, even 
while in the flesh, may hold such communion with them as to 
prepare for their constant companionship in heaven. As they 
tarry round about us to deliver us, and have charge over us to 
keep us in all our ways, so let us cherish and follow their holy 
influences. Thank God for them, and pray to Him to continue 
them to us. As they continually serve and praise God before 
His throne, so let us, their fellow-servants, strive to do His will 
on earth as they do it in heaven. With angels and archangels, 
let us unite to praise and magnify His holy name. 


—Dean Hook. 


S. Benard says: “The angels are not only with you, but for 
you. They are with you to protect you, they are with you to 
help you. Nevertheless, although it is He who gives His angels 
charge over us, yet it is they who with such love obey His bidding, 
and succor us in all our necessities. Let us therefore cultivate a 
pious and grateful spirit towards our noble guardians; let us 
love and honor them as much as we can and as is fitting.” All 
we have said is in commendation of the service of the angels, 
their help, and the power of prayer. Keep these things in mem¬ 
ory, and testify your reverence for the presence of the holy angels 
to the best of your power. — S. Bonaventure. 


It is sweet to feel we are encircled here, 

By breath of angels as the stars by heaven; 

And the soul's own relations, all divine, 

As kind as even those of blood; and thus, 

While friends and kin, like Saturn's double rings, 
Cheer us along our orbit, we may feel 
We are not lone in life, but that earth'9* part 
Of heaven and all things. 


-321- 


—P. J. Bailey. 


HEIRS OF SALVATION. 


HUflUSt 8. 


Also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of 
Man also confess before the angels of God.—Luke 12:8. 


OW upon the bank of the river, on the other side, Christian 



1 N and Hopeful saw the two shining men again, who there 
waited for them. Wherefore, being come out of the river, they 
saluted them saying, “We are ministering spirits sent forth to 
minister for those that shall be heirs of salvation.’’ Now while 
they were thus drawing toward the gate, behold a company of 
the heavenly host came out to meet them; to whom it was said 
by the other two shining ones, ‘ ‘ These are the men that have loved 
our Lord when they were in the world, and that have left all for 
His holy name; and He hath sent us to fetch them, and we have 
brought them thus far on their desired journey, that they may 
go in and look their Redeemer in the face with joy!” Then the 
heavenly host gave a great shout, saying, 4 ‘ Blessed are they that 
are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb!” — Bunyan. 


Lo! the dream of life is o’er; 

Pain, the Christian’s lot no more! 
Kindred spirits, rise with me, 
Yours the meed of victory. 

Now the angel-songs I hear, 

Dying softly on the ear; 

Spirit, rise! to thee is given 
The light ethereal wing of heaven. 

Now no more shall virtue faint, 
Happy spirit of the saint; 

Thine the halo of the skies, 

Thine the seraph’s paradise. 


—Mrs. Hemans. 


GATHERING GOD’S ELECT. 


Hugust 9 . 


But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.—Luke 12:9. 



HERE are no tears in heaven; but when angels come down 


1 to earth, it may he they can fall into companionship with 
human sadness and even learn to weep. Young men, frittering 
away your days in vanities and pleasures, angels weep over you. 
When Christ comes in glory at the last day, he is to he accom¬ 
panied by his holy angels. They are to separate the tares from 
the wheat and cast the tares into everlasting burning. But, on 
the other hand, the angels are to he sent forth with the great 
sound of the trumpet, and they shall gather together God’s elect 
from one end of heaven to the other. The dead shall come forth 
from their graves, and those who are alive shall be caught up 
by the angels in a cloud to meet the Lord in the air. And then, 
together, angels and redeemed men shall ascend into that glorious 
temple in which, with united voices, they shall he engaged in 
worshiping God and praising the Lamb. 


—Robert M. Patterson, D. D. 


But sad as angels for the good man’s sin, 
Weep to record, and blush to give it in. 


—Campbell. 


Oft will find good angels stay, 

Guarding till the coming day, 

Watching through each dange::..s night, 
Till the morrow dawneth bright. 

To such angels, now, my friends, 

You and yours my heart commends. 


—Harriet Farley. 


The Paschal moonlight almost past, 


Yet still the angels hold their post, 
The outguards of an army vast. 


-J. M. Neale, D. D. 


THE REPENTING SINNER. 


august 10. 


I say unto you that likewise joy shall he in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. 


—Luke 15:7. 



UR text tells us that the angels of God rejoice over repentant 


sinners. How is that? They are always as happy as they 
can be. How can they be any happier ? The text does not say 
that they are any happier; but perhaps they may show their 
happiness more. There are days when the angels sing more 
loudly than usual; they are always harping well God’s praise, 
but sometimes the gathering hosts, who have been flitting far 
through the universe, come home to their center, and round the 
throne of God, standing in serried ranks, marshaled not for battle 
but for music on certain set and appointed days, they chant the 
praises of the Son of God. And do you ask me when those days 
occur? I tell you, the birthday of every Christian is a sonnet- 
day in heaven. The angels sing because they behold God’s works 
afresh, shining in excellence. The angels sing over sinners that 
repent because they know what that poor sinner has escaped. 
There is yet a better reason. The angels know what the joys of 
heaven are, and therefore they rejoice over one sinner that 
repenteth. —Spurgeon. 

We think it safe to affirm that every redeemed sinner, just 
because he is redeemed, has angelic as well as human agencies 
brought to bear upon him for his salvation. And we have the 
highest authority, even that of the Son of God Himself, for saying 
that such is the interest of the angels in the salvation of sinners, 
that when the first tears of penitence are in their eyes, and the 
first prayer for pardon comes from their lips, there is joy in 
heaven, in their presence, and a new song and a new triumph swell 
over the plains of immortality. In order that there might be no 
possible misunderstanding concerning this, the Lord Jesus uttered 
it twice in one discourse, thus forever encouraging the hearts of 
dying men and women with the great thought that the highest 
orders of created intelligences in the universe have the deepest 
interest in their spiritual and eternal well-being. —Dunn. 


324- 


THE ANGELS CALLING. 


325 


Hark! I hear the angels calling 
In that far-off land. 

Hark! how sweet their words are falling, 
Lo! the seraph band. 

Angels calling, sweetly calling, 

Weary wanderer, come. 

Gladly greet them, let them lead you 
To their glorious home. 


—0. R. Greene. 


“TEARS OF REPENTANCE THE WINE OF ANGELS.” 


august U. 


Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one 
sinner that repenteth.—Luke 15:10. 


HE angels that walk up and down the earth, that are present 



1 in the congregations of the faithful, offended at aught un¬ 
seemly among them (1 Cor. 11:10), joying to behold their order, 
but most of all joying when a sinner is converted—there shall he 
joy before them, when the church of the redeemed, quickened by 
the Holy Spirit, summons them to join with it in heavenly hymns 
of thanksgiving to God for the recovery of a lost soul. For in¬ 
deed, if the “sons of God 7 ’ shouted for joy and sang together at 
the first creation (Job 38:7), how much more when a new creation 
has found place, at the birth of a soul into everlasting life (Eph. 
3:10, 1 Peter 1:12); for, according to that exquisite word of St. 
Bernard’s, “the tears of penitence are the wine of angels,” and 
their conversion, as Luther says, “causes Te Deums among the 
heavenly host. 7 ’ ‘ —Trench. 


Ready for you the angels wait, 

To triumph in your blest estate; 
Tuning their harps they long to praise 
The wonders of redeeming grace. 


—Charles Wesley. 


Then, too, when angel voices sung 
The mercy of their God, and strung 
Their harps to hail, with welcome sweet, 
That moment, watched for by all eyes 
When some repentant sinner’s feet 

First touched the threshold of the skies.,— 
Oh, then how clearly did the voice 
Of Zaraph above rejoice! 

Love was in ev’ry buoyant tone— 

Such love, as only could belong 
To the blest angels, and alone 

Could, ev’n from angels, bring such song! 


—Thomas Moore. 


-326- 


THE WELCOME OF THE BEGGAR. 

Huguat 12. 

And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abra¬ 
ham’s bosom.—Luke 16:22. 

M ANY a time from our youth up in our times of need, the 
angels have been sent for our strengthening. Many a time 
they have brought us healing; they have whispered of the ever¬ 
lasting joy; they have shown us, in brief song and swift glimpse, 
something of the heaven that is never remote, except as our un¬ 
belief makes it so. Not always have our eyes been clear to see, 
through the films and mists of our tears, the brightness of this 
angel’s face, but to those whom he carries home, his countenance 
is benignant, and his enfolding is as that of the shepherd when 
he uplifts the lost lambkin and bears it to the fold. Precious in 
the Lord’s sight is the death of His saints, and most honorable 
among those who stand before Him is the angel of life whom men 
call death. —Chalmers. 


Carried by the angels to the land of rest, 

Music sweetly sounding through the skies; 

Welcomed by the Savior to the heavenly feast 
Gathered with the loved in Paradise. 

—El’ Nathan. 


So Dives saw them pass away, 

From the broad green river’s shore, 

And angels many on snowy wings, 

The beggar Lazarus bore. 

—Mary Howitt. 


Angels joyful to attend, 
Hovering round thy pillow bend, 
Wait to catch the signal given, 
And escort thee quick to heaven. 


—Anonymous. 


THE CHILDREN OF THE RESURRECTION. 


august 13. 

Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the 
children of God, being the children of the resurrection.—Luke 20:36. 

A ND now if yon tell me of glorious worlds, where the inhabit¬ 
ants have no sins of which to repent, I cannot, on that ac¬ 
count, conclude that the angels cannot join with me in gratitude 
to a mediator. While I thank and bless Him for my restoration, 
they may thank and bless Him for their preservation. His the 
arm which has raised me from ruin; His may he the arm which 
has retained them in glory. And equally may the Son be occupied 
with every home of intelligent being, ministering throughout the 
broad sweep of the spiritual creation to the rendering those in 
obedience who are by nature in constant danger of apostasy. 
Hence, just as we refer it to the immediate agency of God that 
stars and planets retain their places and perform their revolu¬ 
tions, so we should refer it to the immediate agency of Christ 
that the successive ranks of the heavenly hosts preserve their 
glory, and walk their brilliant circuits. —Melville. 

Mighty God, while angels bless Thee, 

May an infant praise Thy name? 

Lord of men as well as angels, 

Thou art every creature’s theme. 

—Robert Robinson. 


Equal to angels are our beloved! 

Christ has redeemed them—His promise is passed. 
A noontide’s glory has opened upon them, 

As long as eternity’s cycles shall last. 

Equal to angels! oh, could we but know 
The bliss that surrounds—how gladly we’d go! 


Equal to angels are our beloved! 

Reunion is certain, we shall meet again! 

Those bright, cheering words of divine consolation, 

Ne’er could have by Jesus been spoken in vain! 

“Equal to angels!” Then trust in the Lord, 

For they are His children, and He is their God. 

—Harriet Beecher Stowe. 


- 328 - 


DRIVE FEAR AWAY. 


329 


He feeds me, comforts and defends, 
And when I die His angel sends, 

To bear me whither He is gone, 

For of His own He loseth none: 
Hallelujah! 

No more to fear or grief I bow, 

God and His angels love me now; 
The joys for me to-day 
Drive fear and mourning far away; 
Hallelujah! 


—J. Heermann. 


THE CROWN OF THORNS. 


2-lugust 14, 


And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him.—Luke 22:43. 


NDER the dark shadows of the trees, amid the interrupted 



U moonlight, it seems to the disciples that there is an angel 
with Him, who supports his failing strength, who enables Him 
to rise victorious from those first prayers with nothing but the 
crimson traces of that bitter struggle upon His brow. Correg¬ 
gio’s “ Agony in the Garden” is one of his most admired pictures. 
It is a triumph of chiaroscuro. The figure of the Christ is 
lighted from heaven, and the angel is illuminated by light re¬ 
flected from Him. The angel points upwards with one hand, and 
with the other points to the cross and the crown of thorns which 
are lying on the ground. —Farrar. 

An angel ministered to our Lord when in Gethsemane He 
wrestled with His great and bitter sorrow. What a benediction 
to the mighty Sufferer was in the soft gliding to His side of that 
gentle presence, in the touch of that soothing, supporting hand 
laid upon Him, in the comfort of that gentle voice thrilling with 
sympathy as it spoke its strengthening message of love! Was 
it a mere coincidence that just at that time and in that place the 
radiant messenger came? No, it is always so. Angels choose 
such occasions to pay their visits to men. 


- J. R. Miller, D. D. 


But in the Olive Mount, by night appearing, 

’Midst the dim leaves, your holiest work was done. 
Whose was the voice that came, divinely cheering, 
Fraught with the breath of God, to aid His Son ? 
Haply of those that, on the moonlight plains, 

Wafted good tidings unto Syrian swains. 


—Felecia Dorothea Hemans. 


’Tis midnight: and from ether-plains 
Is borne the song that angels know; 


Unheard by mortals are the strains 
That sweetly soothe the Savior’s woe. 


—William B. Tappan. 

- 330 - 


THE WEARIED HEART TAKES HOPE. 

God only, and good angels, look 
Behind the blissful screen 
As when, triumphant o’er His woes, 
The Son of God by moonlight rose, 

By all but heaven unseen. 



—Keble. 


No cloud w r as visible, but radiant wings 
Were coming with a silvery rush to earth, 

And as the Savior rose, a glorious one, 

With an illumined forehead, and the light, 

Whose fountain is the mystery of God, 

Encalm’d within his eye, bowed down to Him 
And nerved Him with a ministry of strength. 

-N. P. Willis. 

And the wearied heart grows strong 
As an angel strengthened Him, 

Painting in the garden dim, 

’Neath the world’s vast woe and wrong. 

—Johann Rist. 


In the garden of Gethsemane, 

They say an angel waits 
To watch beside the stricken souls 
That enter in the gates. 

—■Susie E. Best. 





THE ANGELS O T THE RESURRECTION. 

HUQUSt 15. 

And when they found not His body, they came saying that they had also seen a 
vision of angels, which said that He was alive.—Luke 24:25. 

T HE discrepancies as to the number of the angels seen are of 
small importance. We know so little of the modes of an¬ 
gelic existence, how they who are ordinarily invisible can make 
themselves visible, what parts were here severally assigned to 
them, and of the grounds of their action, that it is wholly impossi¬ 
ble for us to say how many may here be present at this time within 
or around the sepulchre. Doubtless the angelic guards were there 
watching over the body of their Lord all the time it was in the 
tomb. —Andrews. 

So spoke the sweet angel voices to those devoted women 
whose love made them the last beside the cross of Jesus, and the 
earliest at His tomb. So spoke the sweet angel voices, and their 
words roll to us with the Divine echoes of joy and hope over 
the interspace of nineteen hundred years. —Farrar. 

But the angels of the Resurrection are radiant with recovered 
joy; their spotless garments are lustrous with the recovered lights 
of heavenly rejoicing. . . . Henceforth naught of earthly woe 
can cloud the brightness of their natures, dim the glories of their 
heaven. —By M. 

Do saints keep holy day in heavenly places? 

Does the old joy shine new in angel faces? 

Are hymns still sung the night when Christ was born? 

And anthems on the Resurrection morn? —Ruby Archer, 
Angels twain were sitting 
In the vacant tomb; 

Lights of day were flitting 
Through its silent gloom; 

Angels brightly shining, 

Light of common day, 

Mingling and entwining 
Where the Savior lay 

Often in our sorrow 
Angels may be seen, 

When we look tomorrow 
Where our griefs had been; 

And the angels holy 
Whisper us and say, 

“Lo! the meek and lowly 
Plucked the sting away.” 

—Walter Chalmers Smith. 


- 332 - 


ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING. 


Hugust 16. 


And he saith unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven 
open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.—John 1:51. 

E VERY good man and sincere believer is under the constant 
care and inspection of these spiritual guardians. The very 
meanest, meekest and most despicable of Christ’s “little ones,” 
who believe on Him, are thought not unworthy the ever-solicitous 
concern and never-failing patronage of the highest and greatest 
of the angels. Let us, then, thank God for these bright guardians; 
let us hearten ourselves with their assistance against temptations; 
and not only pray but endeavor daily, that the will of our Father 
may be done in us, upon earth, with the same cheerfulness and 
vigilance as it is by them in heaven. And let us beg of God that at 
last, when we shall leave the earth, they may conduct us to the 
regions of immortal happiness, to the 1 ‘innumerable company of 
angels, ’ ’ where we shall be ever with them and like unto them. 

—Anonymous. 


Around Him angels fair, 

In countless armies shine; 

And ever in exalted lays, 

They offer songs divine. 

They saw Him on the cross, 

While darkness veiled the skies, 

And when He burst the bars of death, 

They saw the Conqueror rise. 

—Rev. James French. 

What means yon blaze on high? 

The Empyrean sky, 

Like the rich veil of some proud fane, in rending; 

I see the star-paved land 
Where all the angels stand, 

Even the highest height, in burning rows ascending. 

Some with their wings dispread, 

And bowed the stately head, 

As on some mission of God’s love departing, 

Like flames at midnight conflagration starting. 

Henry Hart Milman, 


— 333 — 


TOUCHING THE POOL. 


Bugust 17. 


For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water.—John 5:4. 


VERY early popular legend, which has crept by interpolation 



into the text of St. John, attributed the healing qualities of 
the water to the descent of an angel who troubled the pool at irreg¬ 
ular intervals, leaving the first persons who could scramble into it 


to profit by the immersion. 


—Farrar. 


There is nothing in the statement itself which might not have 
found a place in St. John. It rests upon that religious view of 
nature, which in all nature sees something beyond nature. 


—French. 


Neither in the case of Herod nor of the pool, was the angel 
visible; but the pen of inspiration carries us back of and beyond 
the beneficial operation of the waters, and the odious operation of 
the disease, and shows us that the results owed their origin to the 
instantaneous influence of a messenger sent from God. He gave 
the touch which set the lower agencies at work. —Patterson. 

The angels of sacred history are not impalpable impotencies, 
mere ideals. They are forces. They touch and move the foun¬ 
tains of nature. — H. G. McCook, D. D. 


For a great angel came, Twas said, and stirred 
The pool at certain seasons, and the word 
Was, with this people of the sick, that they 
Who in the waters here their limbs should lay 
Before the motion on the surface ceased, 

Should of their torment straightway be released. 


—Arthur H. Clough. 


334 - 


“AN ANGEL SPAKE UNTO HIM.” 


august 18, 


The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it, said that it thundered; others said: 
an angel spake unto him.—John 12:29. 


ND here it will be remembered that angelic visitations bad 



/"A been coursing back and forth upon the world and through 
it in all ages, both before Christ’s coming, and at His coming and 
after. And yet heaven still appears to he somehow shut. The 
angels—not ascending and descending, hut descending and as¬ 
cending—are thought of only as having gone away to some invisi¬ 
ble nowhere whence they came. Instead of catching a hint from 
so many wonders and so many bright visitants of the world above, 
the world waiting to receive them into eternal society, they did not 
seem to understand. Jesus comes into the world Himself not 
apparitionally like an “irruption of angels”; and so it is of all 
supernatural beings, God, angels, universal society, they are 
known only as they are cognized by the supernatural sensing of 
the spiritual man; or what is nowise different, by faith. 


—Horace Bushnell. 


Ye holy angels bright 

Who wait at GocPs right hand, 

Or through the realms of light 
Fly at your Lord’s command, 

Assist our song, or else the theme 
Too high for mortal tongue doth seem. 


—John H. Gower. 


— 335 — 


SYMBOL OF PURITY. 


august t9. 

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, 
where the body of Jesus had lain.—John 20:12. 

I N WHITE raiment. White signifying the purity of the angels ’ 
character. Matthew speaks of the angels’ raiment being white 
as snow, and his countenance like lightning. The angels ’ presence 
showed the divine hand and care. They were ministering spirits 
to comfort those who were in such great sorrow and need; and 
they gave explanations of what had been done, no one else being 
able to give them. It is worthy of note, how interested the angels 
seem to have been in Jesus and His work. They sang at His 
birth; they comforted Him after the temptation, and also in Geth- 
semane; twelve legions of them were at His call during His trial, 
and now they watched over His tomb, and bore messages from 
Him to His disciples. They rejoiced over everyone who repented 
under His preaching. They are still “ ministering spirits sent forth 
to minister unto those that shall be heirs of salvation. ’ 9 

—Peloubet. 

We stood not by the empty tomb, 

Wherein Thy sacred body lay; 

Nor sat within that upper room, 

Nor met Thee in the open way; 

But we believe that angels said: 

“Why seek the living with the dead?” 

—Anonymous. 

He left the angels behind Him and thus made the grave 

A cell where angels used 

To go and come with heavenly news. 

—Anonymous. 

Send Thine angels down to carry 
Me to realms of endless day. 

—Robinson. 


— 336 — 




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VISION OF 


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(See page 332) 


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THE TROOPS OF OUR BODYGUARD. 


august 20. 

And the angels said unto her: Woman! why weepest thou?—John 20:13. 

H ERE, then, we see that the resurrection, the angels, and the 
future life in heaven, are all so related that the one fact in¬ 
voices and implies the other. These great truths, dimly outlined, 
yet firmly believed by Old Testament saints, are here authorita¬ 
tively announced by Him who is Himself the Resurrection and 
the Life. —Archbishop Whately. 

The angels have communion with us. Bright spirits, first¬ 
born sons of God, do ye think of me? 0 cherubim, great and 
mighty; 0 seraphim, burning, winged with lightning, do ye think 
of us ? Gigantic is your stature. Our poet tells us that the wand 
of an angel might make a mast for some tall admiral; and doubt¬ 
less he was right when he said so. Those angels of God are creatures 
mighty and strong, doing His commandments, hearkening to His 
word—and do they take notice of us? Let the Scripture answer: 
“Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister unto 
those that shall be heirs of salvation?” “The angel of the Lord 
encampeth round about them that fear him. ’' “ For He shall give 
his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways . 9 ’ Yes, 
the brightest angels are but the serving men of the saints; they 
are our lackeys and our footmen. They wait upon us; they are 
the troops of our bodyguard; and we might, if our eyes were 
opened, see what Elisha saw-horses of fire and chariots of fire 
round about us; so that we should joyously say, “More are they 
that are with us than they that are against us.” 

—Spurgeon. 

Hark! an angers voice is speaking, 

And her fears have fled away, 

All her sadness turns to gladness, 

“Christ the Lord is risen to-day.” 

Stricken mourners, who like Mary, 

Weeping stand beside the tomb, 

Deeply mourning that God's children 
Now are sleeping in its gloom, 

' - 337 - 


338 “DRIVE ALL DOUBTS AND DEARS AWAY.” 

List and hear the angel saying, 

On this holy Easter day: 

“He is risen;” let the tidings 
Drive all doubts and fears away. 

—S. B. Campbell. 

It was not dark within! I dreamed, at first, 

A lamp burned there, such radiance mild I saw 
Lighting the hewn walls, and the linen bands; 

And in one corner, folded by itself, 

The face-cloth. Coming closer, I espied 
Two men who sat there—very watchfully— 

One at the head* the other at the foot 
Of that stone table where my Lord had lain. 

Oh!—I say “men”-1 should have known no men 
Had eyes like theirs, shapes so majestical, 

Tongues tuned to such a music as the tone 

Wherewith they questioned me: “Why weepest thou?” 

—Edwin Arnold. 


THE HOUR OF HIS ASCENSION. 


august 21. 


And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two angels 
stood by them in white apparel.—Acts 1:9. 

T HE airy and gentle coming of the angels may well be com¬ 
pared to the glory of colors flung by the sun upon the morn¬ 
ing clouds, that seem to be born just when they appear. Like a 
beam of light striking through some orifice, they shine upon Zach- 
arias in the temple. As the morning light finds the flowers, so 
they find the mother of Jesus; and their message fell on her, pure 
as dew-drops on the lily. To the shepherds’ eyes, they filled the 
midnight arch like auroral beams of light; but not as silently, for 
they sang more marvelously than when the morning stars sang 
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The angels 
communed with the Savior in His glory of transfiguration, sus¬ 
tained Him in the anguish of the garden, watched Him at the 
tomb; and as they had thronged the earth at His coming, so they 
seemed to have hovered in the air in multitudes at the hour of His 
ascension. Beautiful as they seem, they are never mere poetical 
adornments. The occasions of their appearing are grand, the rea¬ 
sons mighty; and their demeanor suggests and befits the highest 
conception of superior beings. Their very coming and going is 
not with earthly movement. They are suddenly seen in the air, 
as one sees white clouds round out from the blue sky on a sum¬ 
mer ’s day, that melt back even wdiile one looks upon them. We 
could not imagine Christ’s history without angelic lore. The sun 
without clouds of silver and gold, the morning on the fields with¬ 
out dew-diamonds, but not the Savior without His angels. 

-—Henry Ward Beecher. 

See, the conqueror mounts in triumph! 

See the King in royal state, 

Riding on the clouds, His chariot, 

To His heavenly palace gate! 

Hark! the choirs of angel voices 
Joyful hallelujahs sing, 

And the portals high are lifted 
To receive their heavenly King. 

—C. Wordsworth, 

- 339 - 


340 


BREAK FORTH IN JOY. 


Then at His scepter’s wave, a rush of plumes 
Shook the thick dew-drops from the roses’ dyes; 

And, as embodying of their waked perfumes, 

A crowd of lovely forms, with lightning eyes, 

And flower-crowned hair, and cheek of Paradise, 

Circled the bower of beauty on the wing: 

And all the grove was rich with symphonies 
Of seeming flute, and horn, and golden string, 

That slowly rose, and o’er the mount hung hovering. 

—Croly. 

Break forth in joy, angelic bands! 

Crown ye the King that midst you stands, 

To whom the heavenly gate expands! 

Sing victory, angel guards that wait! 

Lift up, lift up the eternal gate, 

And let the King come in with state! 

And as ye meet Him on the way, 

The mighty triumph greet and say, 

“Hail, Jesu! glorious Prince, to-day!” 

Bow before His name eternal! 

Things celestial, and terrestrial and infernal! 

—Old Latin Hymn, translated by J. M. Neale. 


J 


I 


V 


TARRYING BEHIND. 


august 22 


The angels said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This 
same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye 
have seen him go Into heaven.—Acts 1:11. 



HE simple word “man,” meant, at first, “the thinking be- 


1 ing”; “woman’’ was originally ‘ 4 wife-man ,’ 7 and our word 
‘ ‘ God, ’ ’ though so like ‘‘ good, ’ 7 seems to have come, rather, from 
the Sanscrit word, ‘ 1 gudha , 7 7 “ the self-concealing invisible One . 7 7 
The word “angel” means simply “a messenger,” and though 
spirits “have neither flesh nor bones as we have,” it is impossible 
to speak of them except under the imaginative form of a perfect 
human shape, and human attributes. — C. Geikie, D. H. 

The description of our Lord’s second advent constantly makes 
mention of clouds. We are reminded of the grand imagery of 
Psalm 104:3, “Who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh 
upon the wings of the wind.” Who were these men in white ap¬ 
parel? To our minds they were angels who had tarried behind 
the vast cavalcade of cherubic legions who were escorting the 
risen Lord to heaven. One of the great secrets held from the an¬ 
gels is the time of our Lord’s second advent. 


—Anonymous. 


0 shine again, ye angel host 
And say that He is near; 
Though but a simple few at most 
Believe He will appear. 

0 come again, thou mighty King, 
Let earth Thy glory see; 

And let us hear the angels sing, 
“He comes with victory.” 


—Rev. Thomas T. Lynch. 


Spoke beside them in their sight 
Two unrobed in shining white— 
Why in wonder thus do ye 
Gaze, 0 men of Galilee? 


- 341 - 


342 


'the angel's. EMtxrcTlotf. 


Hence! nor from the work refrain 
Till your Christ shall come again. 

—Hardwick Shute. 

Then angels came, foretelling 
That He shall come once more 
In clouds, that we may follow 
Where He has gone before; 

And then the Twelve, descending, 

Hastened with joy where lay 
The towers of Zion City, 

Distant a Sabbath day. 

—A. Middlemore Morgan. 


OPENING- THE PRISON DOORS. 


Bugust 23 * 

But the Angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth. 

—Acts 5:19. 

A ND each has a guardian angel, no doubt like that in, I think, 
Dtirer’s engraving, where the little child with bright simple 
face walks trustingly by the precipice, and the serpent, and the 
thorn; and the angel walks beside with folded wings and eager 
to watch, and a guiding hand on the child’s shoulder. This angel 
is always on guard, sometimes defending best when offending 
most. It is cognizant of the spiritual relations of the soul:— 

“The blessing fell upon her soul, 

Her angel by her side 
Knew that the hour of peace was come: 

Her soul was purified. ” 

The Schoolman set it a peculiar work at the resurrection, 
when “ every man’s good angel shall gather together the bones of 
him he guarded.” And Tennyson suggests that in the further 
world it might communicate between death-parted friends: 

“My guardian angel will speak out 
In that high place and tell thee all. ” 

At dying, moreover, the angels have special charge. They 
bend down so near that they may be heard; they stoop over them 
with radiant face like the dawning of heaven: 

“And then, like to an angel o’er the dying 
Who die in righteousness, she lean’d.” 

And when the soul leaves the body, they accompany it to 
heaven. 

“Good night, sweet Prince,” 

says Horatio to the dead Hamlet, 

“And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” 

Numerous instances are on record of dying men and women 
who said they saw troops of angels, and whose vision grew more 
distinct at the approach of death and the failure of bodily sight. 
Sometimes it is shouts and songs that are heard; sometimes fig¬ 
ures that are seen; and there is nothing visible to the spectators 

- 343 - 


344 


WALKING BY FAITH. 


but what they describe as a peculiar brightness on the features of 
the dying. When Lazarus dies in the old ‘ ‘ Christmas Carol ’’ on 
the parable of Dives, 

‘ 1 There came two angels out of heaven 
His soul therein to guide. 

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus, 

And go along with me, 

For you’ve a place prepared in heaven, 

To sit on an angel’s knee!’ ” 

In these allusions to angelic ministry some allowance must 
be made for the rich symbolism of the prophetical books; and 
there are things no doubt hard to be understood. But it remains 
abundantly clear that angels are used as God’s agents both in the 
rational and irrational world; that whatever they do they do but 
His commandment. 

Since God must needs work through some medium, is it at all 
more difficult to conceive of angels being that medium? And 
very human and tender their care is, and wise and benign their 
ways; soothing, healing, gently leading, with few words but most 
eloquent acts, pitiful and yearning, flashing their keen swords 
against lust and pride and the devil, but sheathing them in right¬ 
eous sorrow when their work is done. We have moreover their 
example of unfaltering obedience and loyalty, of unselfish and 
unhindered service. We walk by faith with Him who sends them, 
and in them His gift. —W. Fleming Stevenson. 

With joy the guardian angel sees 
A duteous child upon his knees, 

And writes in his approving book 
Each upward, earnest, holy look. 

Light from his pure aerial dream 
He springs to meet morn’s orient beam, 

And pours towards the kindling skies 
His clear, adoring melodies. 

Some glorious seraph, waiting by, 

Receives the prayer to waft on high, 

And wonders, as he soars, to read 
More than we know, and all we need. 


—Keble. 


ANGELS PITCH THEIR TENTS. 


Hugust 24. 

And the angel said: Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words 
of this life.—Acts 5:20. 

T HIS is the office of the angels—to exercise providence for God 
over the things created and ordered by Him; so that God 
may have the universal and general providence of the whole, while 
the particular parts are provided for by the angels appointed over 
them. — Othenagoras. 

In our tents angels pitch their tents; and when devils would 
mischief us, they turn them out of doors. It is the honor of God’s 
saints to be attended by angels while in life, and to be exalted by 
angels when they die. —Adams. 

Though sometimes affected by the immediate fiat of the 
divine will, yet I think they are most ordinarily done by the min¬ 
istration of angels. —Sir Matthew Hale. 

Oh! not with any sound they come, or sign, 

Which fleshly ear or eye can recognize; 

No curiosity can compass or surprise 
The secret of that intercourse divine 
Which God permits, ordains, across the line, 

The changeless line which bars 
Our earth from other stars. 

But they do come and go continually, 

Our blessed angels, no less ours than His. 

—H. H. Jackson. 

I want to be an angel 

And with the angels stand, 

A crown upon my forehead, 

A harp within my hand. 

—Anonymous. 


-345- 


ANGELIC EXPRESSION. 


Btigust 25. 

And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as if it had 
been the face of an angel.—Acts 6:15. 

A LL the Sanhedrists saw the countenance of Stephen angel¬ 
ically glorified; a superhuman angel-like sox a became exter¬ 
nally visible to them on it. So Luke has conceived and repre¬ 
sented it with simple definiteness; the phenomenon was certainly 
an extraordinary operation of the spirit of Jesus. —Meyer. 

Brightness, calmness, benignity, fearlessness, a look high and 
fair, must have been at least some of the elements of this angel 
face on man. —Wayland Hoyt. 

About the middle of the sixth century some Saxons taken 
in war were exposed for sale in Borne. Gregory the Great, then 
simply deacon, passing by the market place observed their .fair 
faces, white bodies, blue eyes, and golden hair, and inquired of 
the slave dealer who they were. ‘ ‘ They are English or Angles. ’ ’ 
‘ ‘ No, not Angles, 9 ’ said the pious and poetic deacon; ‘ 4 they are 
angels, with faces so angelic.” — John Lord. 

Angels are beings of remarkable power. We know that they 
have amazing intelligence and beauty. We read of one whose 
face was like that of an angel of God. When a thing is spoken 
of as being exceedingly good, it is often connected with angels: 
“men did eat angels’ food.” It is supposed that everything with 
regard to them is of superior order and refined quality. I sup¬ 
pose that a spirit that is not cumbered with flesh and blood as we 
are, must be delivered from much that hampers and beclouds. 
Anything that affects the body drags down the mind; but those 
angelic beings are delivered from such weakness, and they are 
clothed with a glory of strength, and beauty and power. 

—Spurgeon. 

Dante, describing the angels whom he met in Paradise, im¬ 
presses us at once with their external glory and spiritual efful- 

- 346 - 


• akgtEls m rarahise. 


347 


gence. Invariably he makes the former the result of the latter. 
He sings: 


“Another of those splendors 
Approached me, and its will to pleasure me 
It signified by brightening outwordly 
As one delighted to do good.” 

—Farrar. 


When one that holds communion with the skies 
Has filled his urn where those pure waters rise, 
And once more mingles with us meaner things, 
’Tis e’en as if an angel shook his wings; 
Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide, 

That tells us whence His treasures are supplied. 


—Cowper. 


FORESHADOWINGS OF THE INCARNATION. 


august 26. 

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount 
Sinai, an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a hush.—Acts 7:30, 

B Y THE word “angels”—“messengers” of God, we ordina¬ 
rily understand a race of spiritual beings, of a nature ex¬ 
alted far above that of roan, although infinitely removed from that 
of God, whose office is to do Him service in heaven, and by His 
appointment to succor and defend men on earth. There are 
many passages in which the expression the 4 ‘ angel of God, ’ ’ i ‘ the 
angel of Jehovah,’’ is certainly used for a manifestation of God 
Himself. This is especially so in the earlier books of the Old 
Testament. We read of God’s being manifested in the form of 
man, as to Abraham at Mamre, and to Moses in the burning bush. 
The inevitable inference is, that by the “Angel of the Lord,” in 
such passages is meant, He who is from the beginning the 
“word”; i. e., the Manifester or Kevealer of God. These appear¬ 
ances are evidently ‘ ‘ foreshadowings of the Incarnation. ’ ’ As He 
is the “Son of God,” so also is He the “Angel” or “messenger” 
of the Lord. Accordingly it is to His incarnation that all angelic 
ministration is referred, as to a central truth. 

—Dr. William Smith. 

Faith foots it along a dusty road toward heaven; then let her 
go singing on her way, for the angels of God are keeping her com¬ 
pany. With a brave, trustful heart, good friends, let us grasp the 
angel’s hand; and if we acknowledge God’s guidance, He will 
direct our paths aright till we reach our Home. 

—Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. 

Hear thou my prayer, 0 angel kind 
Who brought my gladdened eyes to see 
Him whom so long I yearned to find, 

And gave His dear heart all for me. 

—John Godfrey Saxe. 


- 348 - 


AN ANGEL’S HAND. 


august 27, 


This Moses whom they refused, the same did God send to he a ruler and a deliverer 
by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.—Acts 7:35. 



HE ordinary designation of angels is “malak,” a messenger, 


1 of which the English ‘ ‘ angel, ’’ which is nothing but a trans¬ 
cription of the Greek aggelos, is the equivalent. They are some¬ 
times called 4 ‘ saints, ” “ spirits, ’’ 4 4 morning stars, ’ ’ and ‘ 4 sons of 
God. ’ ’ At first they are treated separately as if they had no cor¬ 
porate existence, but later they are represented as organized 
forces or companies, and are described as 11 armies,” “principali¬ 
ties,’ ’ “hosts” and “chariots.” Whether the Angel of the Lord 
and the Angel of the Covenant, sometimes called the Angel of 
Jehovah’s presence, both of which appear so frequently in the Old 
Dispensation, and whether the Cherubim belong to the number 
and rank of angels, is a serious question. I am inclined to believe 
that the first three do, but that the last, that is the Cherubim, do 
not. The Angel of the Lord and the Angel of the Covenant 
assumed Jehovah’s personality and prerogative, and spoke as if 
they were Jehovah Himself, but they were only His messengers 
and representatives, in reality no more truly Jehovah than was 
the Angel of the Apocalypse, who called himself the Alpha and the 
Omega and yet refused worship. In Zech. 1:12, the Angel of Je¬ 
hovah addresses God as another person, and in Mai. 3:1, the Angel 
of Jehovah’s presence is represented as being sent of God as one 
wholly distinct from God. —Rev. John Balcolm Shaw, D. D. 


They are God’s ministering spirits and are sent, 
His messengers of mercy, to fulfil 
Good for salvation’s heirs. For us they still 
Grieve when we sin, rejoice when we repent; 

And on the last dread day they shall be present 
The several righteous at His holy hill, 

With them God’s face to see, to do His will, 

And bear with them His likeness. Was it meant 
That we this knowledge should in secret seal, 
Unthought of, unimproving? Rather say, 

God designed to man His angel hosts reveal; 

That men might learn like angels to obey; 

And those who long their bliss in heaven to feel, 
Might strive on earth to serve Him even as they. 


—Bishop Maut. 


-349- 


IN THE MOUNT. 


HUflUSt 28, 


This is he that was in the Church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to 
him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give 
unto us.—Acts 7:38. 


HEN God came down upon Mount Sinai to give His chosen 



V Y people the law which was to govern them, a great host of 
angels accompanied Him from heaven. That Mount presented 
an awful appearance when the Lord spake unto the children of 
Israel from it, and uttered in their ears the moral law under the 
form of the Ten Commandments. The angels who are spirits, 
and those ministers who are as a flame of fire, surrounded the 
Mount in one grand encampment. When the eternal Lawgiver 
came down to announce His law to His chosen people, and through 
them to men in all ages, He appeared in state as a sovereign; the 
ministering servants of His wrath were present to show how fear¬ 
ful a thing it would be to break the law and fall into the hands 
of a living God. The angels were around Him as His minister¬ 
ing servants, through whom the law was spoken, and to whom the 
enforcements of its penalties are committed. 


—Robert M. Patterson, D. D. 


How richly in the desert Israel fared,— 

By God’s own hand with food angelic fed, 
Which with the dew around the camp was shed. 


—Richard Wilton. 


God sends His angels, Cloud and Fire, 
To lead us o’er the desert sand; 


God, give our hearts their long desire, 
His shadow in a weary land. 


—Whittier. 


Sing the song of great joy that the angels began, 
Sing of glory to God and of good will to man! 


—J. G. Whittier. 


— 35# —• 


A PLIGHT OF CHERUBS. 


Huoust 29 . 

Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.—Acts 7:53. 

S O PERFECTLY are the angels of God qualified for their high 
office. How do they discharge their office? I will not say 
that they do not minister at all to those who, through their obsti¬ 
nate impenitence and unbelief, disinherit themselves of the King¬ 
dom. God pours down many mercies, even on the evil and un¬ 
thankful, by the ministry of angels. But it is their favorite em¬ 
ploy to minister to the heirs of salvation. Is it not their first care 
to minister to our souls? But we must not expect this will be 
done with observation; in such a manner as that, we may clearly 
distinguish their working from the workings of our own minds. We 
have no more reason to look for this, than for their appearance 
in a visible shape. Without this, they can, in a thousand ways, 
apply to our understanding. They may assist us in our search 
after truth, remove many doubts and difficulties, and confirm us in 
the truth that is after godliness. They may warn us of evil in dis¬ 
guise and place what is good in a clear, strong light. They may 
gently move our will, to embrace what is good and fly from that 
which is evil. Yea, they may be sent of God to answer that whole 
prayer put into our mouths by pious Bishop Kenn: 

“Oh, may Thine angels while I sleep, 

Around my bed their vigils keep; 

Their love angelical instil; 

Stop every avenue of ill. 

May they celestial joys rehearse, 

And thought to thought with me converse.” 

—Wesley. 

Hark, from the center of the flame, 

All armed and feathered with the same, 

Majestic sounds break through the smoky cloud, 

Sent from the all-creating tongue, 

A flight of cherubs guard the words along, 

And bear their fiery law to the retreating crowd. 

—Isaac Watts. 


-351- 


“MINISTERS ARE CALLED ANGELS IN HOLY SCRIPTURE.” 


BUQUSt 30. 


And the Angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying: Arise and go toward the South, 

—Acts 8:26. 



HE term 4 4 angel * ’ is not a designation of nature, but of office; 


1 ministers are called angels in Holy Scripture. The minis¬ 
try of the Gospel is exercised by men, that they may not only 
teach doctrine, but be the witness of what they teach. Angels 
could give instruction in a more perfect manner than men; but 
having never experienced the sorrows of repentance and the joys 
of pardon, they could not say: 4 4 What we have felt and seen, de¬ 
clare w T e unto you;” nor could they say: 44 We are witnesses of 
these things.” Nor is it unworthy of remark, that if angels had 
been employed in the preaching of the Gospel, no expense would 
have been incurred, and the co-operation of the whole Church 
would have been necessarily excluded. Missionaries are the 4 4 mes¬ 
sengers of the churches;” and every lover of Christ can assist in 
promoting the glory of his Lord in the heathen world, and shall 
share in the reward of bringing all nations to the obedience of 
faith. It is an authorized ministry. An 4 4 angel ” is a messenger ; 
and a messenger must be sent. It is an open and undisguised 
ministry. Paul glorified in using great plainness of speech. It 
is a zealous ministry. —Watson. 

Our thoughts and affections seem to originate in ourselves, but 
they do not. They come from the Lord through angels and spirits. 

—Rev. Chauncey Giles. 


Oh, no! the pitiful angels 
Are clearer of sight than we, 


And they note not only the thing that we are, 
But the thing we fain would be. 


—Susan Coolidge. 


-^ 2 - 



4 ^mgrr 








3M 




: ^ 
& 


Hofmann 

THE ASCENSION 


(See page 339) 


























* 

Coletti 

THE ASCENSION 


(See page 340) 










TO GUIDE RATHER THAN BE GUIDED. 


august 31. 


He saw in a vision, evidently about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God 
coining in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius?—Acts 10:3. 

A NGELS visit this earth and mingle with its inhabitants; they 
have tangible forms, and accept material food, and exercise 
gracious ministries for those in the flesh, and yet they reside in 
a higher sphere. —A. J. Gordon, D. D. 

Angels have not guardian spirits; for though one angel may 
he said to preside over another, yet one could not he strictly said 
to guard the other. Moreover, since their confirmation, or their 
fall, the guidance of a guardian angel was quite useless—the 
good do not need it, and the wicked could derive no benefit from 
it; it follows very plainly, also, from this, that our Lord Jesus 
Christ had not a guardian angel; for, from the moment of His 
ineffable Conception, He was blessed and perfectly blessed, and it 
belongs to the blessed to guide rather than be guided. 

—Anonymous. 


Blue against the bluer heavens, 

Stood the mountain calm and still; 

Two white angels, bending earthwards, 

Leant upon the hill. 

Listening leant those silent angels, 

And I also longed to hear 

What sweet strain of earthly musie, 

Thus could charm their ear. 

When the sunset came in glory, 

And the toil of day was o ’er, 

Still the angels leant in silence, 

List’ning as before. 

—Adelaide Procter. 


- 353 - 





September. 







September 


THE BOOK OF GOLD. 

September t. 

And when he looked on the angel, he was afraid and said: What is it, Lord?_Acts 10:4. 

I F, THEN, Kings and Emperors and Presidents, by whose 
agency God governs the world, are treated with so high an 
honor, shall we not give to the angelic spirits an honor greater in 
proportion as these blessed minds exceed kings in dignity; to 
those angelic spirits whom God has placed to constitute His min¬ 
isters ; whose services He makes use of, not only in the government 
of the Church, but also in the rest of the universe; by whose aid, 
although we see them not, we are daily delivered from the great¬ 
est dangers both of soul and body ? 

—Catechismus Komanus. 

Abou Ben Adhem—may his tribe increase— 

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, 

And saw within the moonlight in his room, 

Making it rich, and like a lily in full bloom, 

An angel writing in a book of gold:— 

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem hold, 

And to the presence in the room he said: 

“What writest thou?” The vision raised its head, 

And with a look made all of sweet accord, 

Answered: “The names of those who love the Lord.” 

“And is mine one?” said Adhem. “Nay, not so,” 

Replied the angel. Abou spake more low 
But cheerily still; and said, “I pray thee, then, 

Write me as one who loves his fellow men.” 

The angel wrote and vanished. The next night 
2t came again with a great awakening light, 

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, 

A.nd lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all tb» rest. 

—Leigh Hunt. 

- 357 - 




HIS HEAVENLY MONITOR. 


September 2. 

And when the angel which spoke unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his 
household.—Acts 10:7. 

T HERE was a picture of a little child in the dress of a pilgrim 
walking slowly along a narrow path which was bounded on 
each side by a terrific precipice, the edges of which were hidden 
from his view by a luxuriant thicket of fruits and flowers. Be¬ 
hind the child was an angel with a countenance of mixed tender¬ 
ness and anxiety, his hands placed lightly on the shoulders of the 
little pilgrim, as if to keep him in the center of the path; while 
the child, having closed his eyes that he might not perceive the 
tempting snares on either side, is walking calmly forward, content 
not to see where he plants each footstep, so long as he feels the 
gentle and guiding touch of the angel upon him. His whole aspect 
is that of peace, confidence, and conscious safety, so long as he 
follows the guidance of his heavenly monitor, and presses onward 
in his way. —Bishop Foster. 

I wandered through the forest lone, 

And met a fair young child: 

“My little one, art not afraid? 

The wood is drear and wild.” 

She shook her sunny, waving curls, 

And looked at me and smiled. 

“Nay, but I am not all alone/’ 

Still reverent answered she, 

“An angel walketh by my side, 

Though him I cannot see; 

And he would tell of it in heaven, 

If aught should injure me! 

“He’s ever near, and tenderly 
A loving watch doth keep; 

And with his great white, downy wings 
He fanneth me to sleep.” 

“My child, ’tis but the summer wind 
That through the trees doth creep.” 

“Nay, nay; through life, my mother says, 

He will be ever nigh; 

- 358 - 


I AM NOT AFRAID. 


But I sliall never see his face 
Until I come to die, 

And then he’ll bear me in his arms 
Unto our God on high.” 

I turned me from the trusting child, 

Who put my faith to shame; 

And to my heart these ancient words 
Of holy Scripture came: 

“The angel of the Lord encamps 
Round those that fear His name.” 

—Horatius Bonar, 


MINISTERS OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCE. 


September 3. 

And he said Cornelius was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee unto his 
house, and to hear the words of thee.—Acts 10:22. 

G OOD angels are not to be considered as the mediating agents 
of God’s regular and common providence, but as the min¬ 
isters of His special providence in the affairs of His church. Their 
intervention is apparently occasional and exceptional—not at 
their own option, but only as it is permitted or commanded by 
God. Hence we are not to conceive of angels as coming between 
us and God; nor are we, without special revelation of the fact, 
to attribute to them in any particular case the effects which the 
Scriptures generally ascribe to divine providence. Like miracles, 
therefore, angelic appearances generally mark God’s entrance 
upon new epochs in the unfolding of his plans. Hence we read 
of angels at the completion of creation (Job 38:7); at the giving 
of the law’ (Gal. 3:19); at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:13); at the 
two temptations in the wulderness and in Gethsemane (Matt. 4:11, 
Luke 22:43); at the resurrection (Matt. 28:2); at the ascension 
(Acts 1:10); at the final judgment (Matt. 25:31). 

v —Strong. 


Unheard by all but angel ears 
The good Cornelius knelt alone, 

Nor dreamed his prayers and tears 
Would help a world undone. 

Far o’er the glowing Western main 
His wistful brow was upward raised, 

Where, like an angel’s train, 

The burnished water blazed. 

—Keble. 

Satan saw how in that blest day-breaking night; 

The heaven-rebuked shades made haste away; 

How bright a dawn of angels with new light 
Amazed the midnight world, and made a day 
Of which the morning knew not. 

—Jeremy Taylor. 


- 360 - 


ELASTIC AS THE LIGHT. 


September 4. 


And Cornelius said: Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth 
hour I prayed in my house, and behold, an angel stood before me in bright clothing. 

—Acts 10:30. 


HEREVER mentioned, angels are described as strong, 



V V swift, and splendid; subtile as the wind, elastic as the 
light. To Abraham and Cornelius they came suddenly, without 
announcement. From Manoah one departed so remarkably that 
Manoah thereby understood he had seen a vision of God. One 
walked in the midst of a glowing furnace unharmed. Another 
condescended to patiently watch in the dark and filthy den of sav¬ 
age beasts. No distance wearies them, and no barriers hinder 
them. But, though thus above the influences of material circum¬ 
stances, we nevertheless do read of limitations to their endow¬ 
ments. 1. Their power is limited. 2. Their knowledge is lim¬ 
ited. 3. Scripture gives hints of graded authority among the 
angels, which each rank maintains with becoming dignity and 
harmony. —Mrs. George C. Needham. 


Cease then my tongue! and lend unto my mind 
Leave to think how great that beatity is, 

Whose utmost parts so beautiful I find; 

His glorious face! which glistereth else so bright 
That the angels themselves cannot endure His sight. 


— Spenser. 


What was’t awakened the untried ear 

Of that sole man who was all humankind? 
Was it the gladsome welcome of the wind, 
Stirring the leaves that never yet were sere? 
Did viewless seraphs nestle all around, 
Making sweet music out of air so sweet? 


—Hartly Coleridge. 


Whilst God’s great angels of the Dawn 
Lead up the golden Day! 


-B. M. 


- 361 - 


AN ANGEL IN THE HOUSE. 


September 5. 


And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto 
him: Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter.—Acts 11:13. 


ENERALLY the Scriptures inform us, especially in the vis- 



VJ ions of Ezekiel, Daniel, and John, that they are employed in 
executing various, great and wonderful purposes of divine provi¬ 
dence. Here we behold them controlling evil spirits, wielding the 
elements of this world; producing, directing and ministering, and 
terminating the great convulsions of time; conveying the souls 
of the just to the Paradise of God; severing the wicked from the 
good at the Day of Judgment, and performing the duties of their 
dignified and glorious missions. Nor can we rationally doubt that 
the angels visit every other habitable world with messages and 
designs of the same sublime import; execute the great purposes of 
God in all parts of His kingdom; and thus become, in an exten¬ 
sive sense, illustrious benefactors of the intelligent creation. 


— Timothy Dwight. 


How sweet it were, if without feeble fright, 

Or dying of the dreadful beauteous sight, 

An angel came to us, and we could bear 
To see him issue from the silent air 
At evening in our room, and bend on ours 
His divine eyes, and bring us from the bowers 
News of dear friends, and children who have never 
Been dead indeed—as we shall know forever. 

Alas! we think not what we daily see 
About our hearths—angels that are to be, 

Or may be if they will, and we prepare 
Their souls and ours to meet in happy air— 

A child—a friend—a wife—whose soft heart sings 
In unison with ours, breeding its future wings. 


—Leigh Hunt. 


- 362 - 


CHRIST THE LORD OF ANGELS. 


September 6. 


And behold, the Angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison; 
and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up saying: Arise up quickly.—Acts 12:7. 


HEIST is the Lord of Angels, Jehovah of hosts; and he 



brings all His glorious retinue to serve Him in His office of 
Savior. As the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says of the 
angels, “Are they not ministering spirits sent forth to minister 
to those who shall he heirs of salvation 1 ’ ’ In the Old Testament, 
angels were declared to he guardians of God’s people (Ps. 91:12). 
Our blessed Master confirms the truth. His angels are His 
people’s angels. Standing ready before God to he sent upon 
any mission that concerns the welfare of His little ones—little 
children and child-like believers. Some find here (Matt. 18:10) 
the doctrine of particular guardian angels; whether that he true 
or not, we are unprepared to say; hut certainly all Christ’s people 
are under the guardianship of Christ’s angels. There is not one 
of all the radiant winged spirits who do God’s will in Providence, 
that is not ready to he a servant of those whom Jesus numbers 
among His little ones. — Eev. Dr. Bethune. 


Keep clean, bear fruit, earn life and watch 
Till the white-winged reapers come. 


—Henry Vaughan. 


When doomed to death, the Apostle lay 
At night in Herod ’s dungeon cell, 

A light shone round him like the day, 
And from his limbs the fetters fell. 

A messenger from God was there, 

To loose his chain, and bid him rise, 
And lo! the saint was free as air, 
Walked forth beneath the open skies. 


—William Cullen Bryant. 


- 363 - 


AN ANGEL LEADS. 


September 7. 


And the angel said unto Peter: Gird thyself, and hind on thy sandals. And so he did. 
And he saith unto him: Cast thy garment about thee and follow me.—Acts 12:8. 


ND indeed, so far is Scripture from leaving angelic ministra- 



tions amongst obscure or inscrutable things, that it inter¬ 
weaves it with the most encouraging of its promises, and thus 
strives, as it were, to force it upon us as a practical and personal 
truth. AVhere is the Christian who has not been gladdened by 
the words, “Because thou hast made the Lord . . . thy hab¬ 

itation, there shall no evil befall thee ? ’ ’ But how few give 
attention to the following verse, though evidently explanatory of 
the agency through which the promise shall be accomplished: 
“For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in 


all thy ways. ’ * 


-H. Melville, B. D. 


Just like the clays do persons change their masters, 
Those gods who them protect against disasters; 

And souls which were to natal genii given, 

Belong to guardian angels up in heaven. 


—Anonymous. 


The inexpressive notes to hear 
Of angel song and angel motion, 

Rising and falling on the ear 

Like waves in joy’s unbounded ocean. 

His dream was changed,—the tyrant’s voice 
Calls to that last of glorious deeds; 

But as he rises to rejoice, 

Not Herod, but an angel, leads. 


—Keble. 


-364 - 


WITH WATCHFUL CARE. 


September 8. 

And he went out and followed him; and wist not what was done by the angel, but 
thought he saw a vision.—Acts 12:9. 

A CCORDING to the intimations which Scripture and ecclesi¬ 
astical teaching affords us respecting the nature and essence 
of angels, we must represent them to our minds as pure spirits, 
and not, like men, attached to bodies in the astronomical meaning 
of the expression, but in the intellectual and spiritual sense. If, 
on the one hand, they are entirely unshackled by the conditions 
of space, just as little, on the other, are they subjected to the 
conditions of time. An angel cannot become old. Youth and age 
are antitheses which have no meaning as applied to them. Al¬ 
though they have an origin, and indeed may be said to have a 
history in so far as a falling off from God has taken place in the 
angel-world, yet they have no history in the sense of a continuous 
development, a continuous progress and advance to a state of 
maturity. For from the beginning of their existence the angels 
have ranged themselves either on the side of God or against Him, 
and it is only in so far as they enter into the world of mankind 
that they have any part in a progressive history. 

—Bishop Martinsen. 

Angels, where’er we go, attend 
Our steps, whate’er betide; 

With watchful care their charge defend, 

And evil turn aside. 

—Charles Wesley. 

But angels, leaning from the golden seat 
Are not so minded; their fine ear hath won 
The issue of completed cadences, 

And, smiling down the stars, they whisper—Sweet. 

—Mrs. Browning. 


ANGELS SYMPATHIZE WITH MEN. 


September 9, 


And they went out and passed on through one street, and forthwith an angel departed 
from him.—Acts 12:10. 


HERE is a similarity between men and angels, and this 



1 similarity enables angels to sympathize with men, and they 
do sympathize with men in all their struggles. They look upon 
each soul as the germ of souls to come, and they desire that each 
soul shall reach a state of elevated happiness. For thousands 
of years they have observed the actions of men; they know how 
much they can suffer and how much they can enjoy; and they 
look, therefore, with great solicitude to see whether men are living 
so as to attain happiness or sorrow in the world to come. They 
also are acquainted with the great plan of salvation. They know 
that Christ died for men. From heavenly heights the angels look 
down upon a world struggling with sin, and they rejoice greatly 
whenever they are able to help men in their conflict with wicked¬ 
ness, and to assist in saving souls. The pure angels are deeply 
concerned for us! —Bishop Cyrus Foss, D. D. 


So on they passed, 


Free and unquestioned, ’till the seraph’s wing 
Outspread in parting flight. With snowy trace 
Awhile it hovered, then like radiant star 
From its bright orbit loosed, went soaring up, 
High o’er the arc of night. Then Peter knew 
The Angel of the Lord, for he had deemed 
Some blessed vision held his tranced sight 
In strange illusion. 


—Lydia H. Sigourney. 


Or curious trace the long laborious maze 
Of Heaven’s decrees, where wondering angels gaze? 


—Thomas Tickell. 


— 366 — 


“THE LORD HATH SENT HIS ANGELS.’’ 

September 10. 


And when Peter was come to himself he said: Now I know of a surety, that the 
Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod.—Acts 12:11. 

T HE fathers of the Christian Church taught that every human 
being is accompanied by an angel appointed to watch over 
him. The Mahometans give to each of us a good and an evil 
angel; but the early Christians supposed us to he attended each 
by a good angel only, who undertake that office not merely from 
duty to God, and out of obedience and great humility, but so 
inspired by exceeding charity and love towards his human charge. 
It would require the tongues of angels themselves to recite all 
that we owe to these benign and vigilant guardians. 

—Mrs. Jameson. 

We see before all things in this Divine hook (the Apocalypse) 
the ministry of angels. We see them coming incessantly from 
heaven to earth and returning again. They bring down, interpret 
and execute God’s orders—orders for salvation as well as for 
punishment. That is what is meant by the saying, The angels 
are ministering spirits sent for the ministry of our salvation. 
From the very earliest ages, the ancients believed that angels 
interposed in all the actions of the church. They recognize an 
angel who intervened in the oblation and bore it to the sublime 
altar of Jesus Christ—an angel whom they call the angel of 
prayer, and who presented before God the petitions of the faithful. 

—Bossuet. 

Who is he whom watch and ward, 

Lock and key and wakeful guard, 

Rome’s quaternions, rough and bold, 

Chains and prison, cannot hold? 

From whose hands the fetters fall, 

To whom angel voices call, 

Who by angel light doth see, 

And by angel hand is free, 

He for whom, both night and day, 

The Redeemer’s Church doth pray! 

—J. S. S. Monsell. 


( 


- 367 - 


PROTECT, DEFEND AND FOSTER. 

September It. 

Then they said: It is an angel.—Acts 12:15. 

T HEIR prayer fetched an angel to fetch Peter out of prison. 

—Non Such Professor. 

In all theologies it is believed that every individual has a 
guardian angel sent forth to protect, to defend and to foster. 
The Jewish rabbis say that Adam’s guardian angel was Raphael, 
and that Jacob’s guardian angel was Peniel. If every individual 
has a guardian angel, shall not a Christian nation have guardian 
angels? Who shall they be? Those who never knew us? Those 
who never fought in behalf of our institutions ? Those who never 
suffered for our land? No! no! — T'almage. 

The noblest use of the imagination is to enable us to .bring 
sensibly to our sight the things which are recorded as belonging 
to our future state, or as invisibly surrounding us in this. It 
is given us, that we may imagine the cloud of witnesses in heaven 
and earth; that we may conceive the great army of the inhabit¬ 
ants of heaven; that we may be able to vision forth the ministry 
of angels beside us, and see the chariots of fire on the mountains 
that gird us round. — Ruskin. 


With the voice x of praise 
Ilis joyous steps a well-known threshold sought, 

The home of Mary. High heaven had heard 
The prayer of Faith. And heard if not the breath 
Of gratitude from every trembling lip, 

Ascribing glory to the Lord of Hosts, 

Whose holy angel had his servant freed 
From the high-handed malice of the Jews, 

And from the wrath of Herod. 

—Lydia H. Sigourney. 


368 — 



Fra Bartolommeo 

AN ANGEL OF MUSIC 

(See page 536) 



ANGELS COMING FOR THE MARTYRS 

(See page 346) 


Dore 





























Plockhorst 


GUARDIAN ANGEL 

(See page 358) 

















PEOPLING THE AERIAL SPACES. 


September 12. 

And immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory. 

—Acts 12:23. 

M ANKIND have always believed in unseen creatures peopling 
the aerial spaces. The Bible sustains this idea, informing 
us that these spiritual intelligences do exist, and in close proximity 
to our world; that they are divided into two vast hosts; the one 
active in good ministries for our race; the other intent on annoy¬ 
ing and injuring us: the one host designated as angels, loyal to 
God; the other called demons, apostates under Satan, and rebels 
against God. To the angel or angels has been committed the 
administration of affairs material to sense. Thus angels are 
associated with the more tangible phase of heavenly service to 
men. The term “angel” designates an office, rather than de¬ 
scribes a person. In itself, unqualified by circumstances, it simply 
means “a messenger.” The employment of angels is two-fold: 
heavenly and earthly. In heaven they minister as priests in the 
temple of God. Concerning our earth from the creation they 
have manifested active interest in the affairs of men. 

—Mrs. Geo. C. Needham. 


Two angels, one of Life and one of Death, 

Passed o’er the village as the morning broke; 

The dawn was on their faces; and beneath, 

The somber houses capped with plumes of smoke. 

—Longfellow. 

One serene and silent watcher 
Noteth every crime and guile, 

Writes it with a holy duty, 

Seals it not, but waits awhile; 

If the evil-doer cry not, 

“God, forgive me!” ere he sleeps, 

Then the sad, stern spirit seals it, 

And the gentler angel weeps. 

—P. Prince. 


) 


— 369 — 


“ERE I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP.” 

September 13. 

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the 
Pharisees confess both.—Acts 23:8. 

T HE scenes in which the Sadducees denied angels and spirits 
are not quite clear. The Sadducees received the written 
Scriptures, but disallowed the oral developments upheld by the 
Pharisees and scribes; and it is possible that they repudiated 
only that more modern luxuriant angelology current in their day, 
without questioning the ancient angelophanies. The great his¬ 
torical and ritual writing “P” contains no reference to angels. 
The Torah contained the revelation of God’s will, and expressed 
all His relations to the world and men; special intervention of 
God was not yet needed. And this may have been the position 
of the Sadducees. On the other hand, from the Sadducean in¬ 
clination to free thinking, inherited from the pre-Maccabean Gr. 
period, it is possible that they interpreted the angelophanies of 
the written Scriptures received by them in a rationalistic way 
as personified natural forces. —Scribner’s Bible Die. 

Hear my prayer, 0 Heavenly Father, 

Ere I lay me down to sleep;— 

Bid Thine angels, pure and holy, 

Round my bed their vigil keep. 

Guide and guard me with Thy blessing 
Till Thine angels bid me home. 

—Charles Dickens. 

And Christ looks down upon it 
With approving smile of love, 

And the angels weave the story 
Into their songs above. 

—H. Biddle. 


-370 - 


OUTWARD HELP AND RELIEF. 


September 14. 


And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, 
and strove, saying: We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken 
to him, let us not fight against God.—Acts 23:9. 

W HAT is tlie angelic ministry and custody? It is not cura 
animarum (care and charge of souls), but ministeriuin 
externi auxilii (to afford us outward help and relief); it is 
custodia corporis (they guard the body life chiefly). Thus we 
find them often employed. An angel brought Elijah his food 
under a juniper-tree. An angel delivered Peter from prison. 

—T. Manton, D. D. 

The belief in a realm of angelic spirits was universal in the 
early church. They were the instruments of Divine providence 
and the messengers of God. Not only were they guardians of 
nations, but each individual was held to have his guardian angel, 
fulfilling an office like that of the tutelar genius under the old 
religion. Yet angels were only the creatures of God, and were 
subject to His will. —Geo. Park Fisher, D. D. 

What lovely tones awaken me, 

Swelling upon the breeze, 

As it sweeps through the open balcony 
On to the distant trees? 

Hear’st thou them not? So beautiful! 

They seem to bid me follow them afar. 

I hear a tone of melody, 

Calm as the summer air. 

Oh! they are not earthly music, 

But angels ’ festal lays, 

Calling to lands of beauty, 

To cloudless summer days. 

—M. M. Marcello. 


— 371 — 


PERSONAL BEINGS IN SCRIPTURE. 


September 15. 

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve. 

—Acts 27:23. 

P AUL’S statement excludes the hypothesis that angels are 
simply abstract conceptions of good or evil. Christ’s con¬ 
temporaries did suppose Him to believe in angelic spirits, good 
and evil. If this belief was an error, it was by no means a 
harmless one, and the benevolence as well as the veracity of Christ 
would have led him to correct it. So, too, if Paul had known that 
there were no such beings as angels, he could not honestly have 
contented himself with forbidding the Colossians to worship 
them, but would have denied their existence, as he denied the 
existence of heathen gods. The constant representation of angels 
as personal beings in Scripture cannot be explained as a personi¬ 
fication of abstract good and evil, without wresting many narra¬ 
tive passages from their obvious sense. The angels of God are 
created beings; they are personal agents; and they are an order 
of intelligences distinct from man and older than man. 

—Strong. 


Jehovah’s charioteers surround, 

The heavenly minstrel choir 
Encamp where’er his heirs are found, 

And form our wall of fire. 

Ten thousand offices unseen 
For us they gladly do, 

Deliver in the lion’s den 
And safe escort us through. 

But thronging round with busiest love, 

They guard the dying breast, 

The lurking fiends far off remove, 

And sing our souls to rest. 

And when our spirits we resign, 

On outstretched wings they bear, 

And lodge us in the arms divine, 

And leave forever there. 

—Charles Wesley. 

- 372 - 


COMPASSION OVER US. 


September 16. 

And the angel said: Fear not, Paul; thou must he brought before Caesar; and lo, Cod 
hath given thee all them that sail with thee.—Acts 27:24. 

A NGELS watch by the cradle of the new-horn babe and spread 
their celestial wings round the tottering steps of infancy. 
If the path of life he difficult and thorny, and evil spirits work 
us shame and woe, they sustain us; they hear the voice of our 
repentance up to the foot of God’s throne, and bring us hack in 
return a pitying benediction to strengthen and to cheer. When 
passion and temptation strive for the mastery, they encourage us 
to resist; when we conquer, they crown us; when we falter and 
fail, they compassionate and grieve over us; when we are 
obstinate in polluting our own souls, and are perverted not only 
in act hut in will, they leave us: and woe to them that are so 
left! But the good angel does not quit his charge until his pro¬ 
tection is despised, rejected and utterly repudiated. Wonderful 
the fervor of their love, wonderful their meekness and patience, 
who endure from day to day the spectacle of the unveiled human 
heart with all its miserable weaknesses and vanities, its inordi¬ 
nate desires and selfish purposes! Constant to us in death, they 
contend against the powers of darkness for the emancipated 
spirit. —Mrs. Jameson. 

A poor man’s life will become quite another thing when he 
brings the angels into it. —Rev. H. Latham. 

From dust a seraph’s zeal Thou wilt not seek, 

Nor wilt Thou ask an angel’s purity. 

—Hannah More. 


Hark, the hosts of heaven are singing 
Praises to the new-born Lord, 

Strains of sweetest music flinging, 

Not a note or word unheard. 

—E. H. Plumtree. 


- 373 - 


INVISIBLE FRIENDS. 


September 17 . 


For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, . . . nor any other 
creature shall he able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our 
Lord.—Romans 8:38. 


NOTHER grand branch of the ministry of angels is to 



i \ counterwork evil angels, who are continually going about, 
not only as roaring lions, seeking whom they may devour, but 
more dangerously still, as angels of light, seeking whom they 
may deceive. And how great is the number of these! Are they 
not as the stars of heaven for multitude? How great is their 
subtlety!—matured by the experience of above six thousand 
years. How great is their strength!—only inferior to that of 
the angels of God. And what an advantage have they over us 
by that single circumstance, that they are invisible! As we have 
not strength to repel their force, so we have not skill to decline 
it. But the merciful God hath not given us up to the will of our 
enemies: ‘ ‘ His eyes, ’ 9 that is, His angels, ‘ ‘ run to and fro over 

all the earth. ’ ’ And if our eyes were opened, we should see ‘ ‘ they 
are more that are for us, than they that are against us.” We 
should see: 

We can as easily think of summer without flowers as of the 
Bible without angels. —John Hunter, D. D. 


A convoy attends, 

A ministering host of invisible friends. 

—Wesley. 

So when the Angel of the Darker Drink 
At last shall find you by the River Brink, 

And, offering his cup, invite your soul 
Forth to your lips to quaff—you shall not shrink. 


— Omar Khayyam. 


- 374 - 


THEIR DURANCE IMMORTAL. 


September 18 . 

For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.—Corinthians 4:9. 

S UPERIOR beings above ns, who enjoy perfect happiness, are 
more steadily determined in their choice of good than we, 
and yet they are not less happy or less free than we. The sup¬ 
position that angels assume bodies need not startle us, since some 
of the most ancient and most learned fathers seemed to believe 
that they had bodies. —Locke. 

What are angels? Surely they are spirits—immortal spirits. 
For their nature or substance, spirits; for their quality or prop¬ 
erty, glorious; for their place of abode, heavenly; for their 
durance or continuance, immortal. —Lancelot Andrews. 

Yet one more task was yours! Your heavenly dwelling 
Ye left, and by the unsealed sepulchral stone 
In glorious raiment sat, the vreepers telling 

That He they sought had triumphed and was gone. 

Now have ye left us for the brighter shore; 

Your presence lights the lonely groves no more. 

But may ye not, unseen, around us hover, 

With gentle promptings and sweet influence, yet, 

Though the fresh glory of those days be over, 

When, ’midst the palm-trees, man your footsteps met? 

Are ye not near, when faith and hope rise high, 

When love, by strength, o’ermasters agony? 

Are ye not near, when sorrow, unrepining, 

Yields up life’s treasures unto Him who gave? 

When martyrs, all things for His sale resigning, 

Lead on the march of death, serenely brave? 

Dreams! but a deeper thought our souls may fill; 

One, One is near—a spirit holier still! 

—Dorothea Felicia Hemans. 


- 375 - 


ALLOTMENTS OF HAPPINESS. 


September 19. 

Know ye not that we shall judge angels?—1 Corinthians 6:3. 

A S OUR nature is higher than the angels, in that we are to 
instruct them (1 Cor. 11:10), so, when we are told in addition 
to this that we are to “ judge angels,” our dignity immeasurably 
increases. "What therefore can he meant by the judging of 
angels? We know that although it is quite certain that those 
who obey not God shall be “cast into the fire prepared for the 
devil and his angels,” yet the judgment day has not yet come 
to those who have died with the wrath of God hanging over them, 
and in vain rebelling against Him, even as it has not come to 
those who have died in His faith and fear; and therefore, as 
there is a day of judgment yet to come for both the righteous 
and the wicked among mankind, so there will be a day of judg¬ 
ment, as it would appear, for angels, though their allotments of 
happiness or woe may be already decided. Probably at the great 
day of judgment, when the saints shall sit on the throne to judge 
these mighty beings, they will have to fix that doom forever 
which has been everlastingly determined by the Almighty. It 
may be, indeed, that there shall be no longer any possibility of 
sinning on the part of the angels who have “kept their first 
estate;” these, however, are but conjectures; we have nothing 
revealed on the subject, save the awful fact that it is from the 
church they learn the unsearchable things of Christ, and that a 
time will come when we shall have to pronounce on them their 
eternal sentence. —Rev. H. Christmas. 

And join thy voice unto the angel choir. 

—Milton. 


With white feet of angels seven, 

Her white feet go glimmering; 

And above the deep of heaven, 

Flame on flame and wing on wing. 

—N. B. Yeats. 


-376 - 


SYNONYM OF PERFECTION. 

September 20. 


For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 

—1 Corinthians 11:10. 

S OME have interpreted this passage as referring to the effects 
of female beauty upon the angels. —Christmas. 

The angels in art and poetry present a field of almost inex¬ 
haustible richness. It abounds with conceptions of exquisite 
beauty and purity, of inspiring poetry and miracles of art. 

Angels belong to monotheism alone. The polytheists of 
Greece and Rome knew them not. The winged beings carved on 
the walls of Egyptian temples or on the slabs of Assyrian palaces 
are not angels, any more than are the naiads, dryads, or winged 
genii of Greece. How different is their waywardness from the 
serene holy obedience of the host of heaven! “The chariots of 
God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels.” Nations 
who have realized the unity of God and His irrevocable will 
delighted to think of armies of radiant, obedient spirits stronger 
than men, superior to their weaknesses, messengers, guardians, 
and ambassadors between heaven and earth. 

It may cause us surprise to remember that the earliest repre¬ 
sentations of angels (as we understand the word) are as late as 
the beginning of the fifth century A. D.; contemporary therefore 
with St. Ambrose at Milan, and with the words of the Te Deum: 
“To Thee all angels cry aloud.” I know of none earlier than 
the mosaics in the churches of St. Agatha and St. Michele at 
Ravenna. There they are figured as stately Romanesque princes, 
carrying long silver scepters, and with grand pinions on their 
shoulders. Angels in art are sexless. If in earlier days they 
had more of the attribute of manly strength, in later times they 
excel in womanly sweetness. They are never bearded, and while 
Michael and his legions have frequently richly wrought armor, 
and Gabriel is often in priestly robes, most angels wear distinctly 
feminine dress. In sculpture a difficulty arises, less felt in 
painting, as to the joining of the wings to the body. The clothes . 
have to be pierced for the wings to appear. 

- 377- 


378 


ANGELS SENT TO GUIDE. 


Angels are literally “sent ones,” to guide, rebuke or console. 
They bring good tidings, warn, and even punish. They are guard¬ 
ian spirits and of higher nature than man’s, absolute in their 
obedience, spotless in their beauty, countless in their numbers. 
They are especially present at the Nativity, singing carols to 
the startled shepherds, bending with rapture over the scene at 
the manger, as Milton sings: 

11 Round about the courtly stable 
Bright-harnessed angels stand in order serviceable. ’ 7 

—From “Angels in Art and Poetry.” 

Figuratively, in the style of love, the name of angel is applied 
to a beautiful person, as a synonym of perfection. 

—Zell’s Encyclopedia. 

Angels listen when she speaks. 

—Rochester. 

And yet a spirit still and bright 

With something of an angel light! 

—Wordsworth. 

She was good as she was fair, 

As pure in thought as angels are. 

—Samuel Rogers. 


HIS BEST ANGEL, LOVE. 

September 21. 


Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am become 
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.—1 Corinthians 13:1. 

A S TO our nature, our immortal souls are kin, or like unto the 
angels, though our souls, that are created after the image of 
God, may well he said to be like the angels. “He made us a 
little lower than the angels. ’ ’ And God has made us their charge 
and care; and therefore no doubt has given them a special love 
unto us, to fit them to the performance of their trust. As minis¬ 
ters have a special paternal love to their flocks, so these excellent 
spirits have no doubt a far purer and greater love, to the image 
of God upon the saints, and to the saints for the sake of God, 
than the dearest friends and holiest persons on earth can have. 
For they are more holy, and they are more perfectly conformed 
to the mind of God, and they love God Himself more perfectly 
than we, and therefore are more to be loved by us than any 
mortals are, both because they are more excellent, pure and 
amiable, and because they have more love to us. —Baxter. 

Love the angels and gratify them, for they love you and are 
mightily advantageous to you; they love us much without all 
question, for their wills are as God’s will, and He loves us and 
they know it, as being deputed by Him to minister to us. And 
as they themselves love God above all, so they love us as them¬ 
selves, which is the next command, for we are their neighbors; 
they are very near to us, and we shall be much nearer hereafter 
when we shall be with them, and be as they are. We may see 
their love by its effects. First by these works for our good, they 
work in us and upon us; and then those effects of love, they 
rejoice to look into the good things prepared for us, "which 
things the angels desire to look into.” —Henry Laurence. 

Love is the mighty conqueror, 

Love is the beauteous guide, 

Love with her beaming eyes can see 
We’ve all our angel side. 


- 379 - 


—Anonymous. 


380 


THE POWER OF LOVE 


If I have freedom in my love, 

And in my soul am free, 

Angels alone that soar above 
Enjoy such liberty. 

—Lovelace. 


And who saith, u I loved once?” 

Not angels whose clear eyes love, 

Love foresee, love through eternity, 

And by to love do apprehend to be. 

—G. Browning. 


God measures souls by their capacity 
For entertaining his best angel, Love. 
Who loveth most is nearest kin to God, 
Who is all love or nothing. 


—Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 


CLAD IN ANGELIC LIGHT. 


September 22. 


And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

—2 Corinthians 11:14. 

The angel of Satan to buffet me.—2 Corinthians 12:7. 

I T IS supposed by some that the devil was the chief angel in 
heaven, the head of all the rest; and that he falling, the angels 
were left as a body without a head; and after he had politically 
beheaded the angels, he endeavored to destroy man and rout him 
out of Paradise; but God takes the opportunity to set up His 
Son as the head of angels and men. And thus, while the devil 
endeavored to spoil the corporation of angels, and make them a 
body contrary to God, God makes angels and men one body, under 
one Head, attained a more excellent and glorious Head in another 
nature, which they had not before; though of a lower nature in 
His divinity, whence many suppose they derive their confirming 
power and the stability of their standing. Chamock. 


See the sun, himself! on wings 
Of glory up the East he springs, 

Angel of light! 

—Moore. 


Angels, the first-born sons of light, 

Since from their glorious seats they fell, 

Are outcasts in eternal night; 

There is no gospel preached in hell. 

—Montgomery. 


Each fiend 

Was now as Satan, train’d in guilt and guile, 

Student and scholar of the human heart, 

And skilful when and where to show himself 
Clad in angelic light. 

—Beekersteth. 


-383 - 


CHILDREN OF THE SUN. 


September 23. 

Tor though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than 
that which we have preached, let him he accursed.—Galatians 1:8. 

I T IS the plain teaching of the Bible, and it should receive more 
attention than is generally given to it, that there is communi¬ 
cation between heaven and earth through the angels. They are 
constantly around us, executing God’s commands and acting for 
us. Scriptures abound with illustrations of this. But there is 
in the revealed books no coming and going between heaven and 
earth of human spirits, for the purpose of making communica¬ 
tions at least. There is not a single intimation of the departed 
spirits of men holding intercourse with the living; those who 
advocate it may make the most of the Witch of Endor. Well, 
now, can any one believe that if there were such a thing, the 
Bible, which is so full of notices of angel ministrations, which 
tells so much about men and their future state, would not have 
given the slightest hint of it 1 Strange, that when any were look¬ 
ing around for a system of communication with the spirit world, 
they should have taken the spirits of departed men instead of 
angels. But no, it is not strange, for there the decisive dictum 
of the apostle would have met them: “Though we or an angel 
from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which 
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” Any revela¬ 
tion which does not agree with this is another gospel—a false 
gospel. If it has something inconsistent with this, it is not from 
heaven. It is true 

‘ 1 That millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
Unseen both when we wake and when we sleep.’’ 

But they are not the departed spirits of men. They are angels; 
and they do not reveal anything new, or trifle with the most sacred 
feelings of our nature, by lowering the condition of heaven to the 
carnalities of earth. — Bobert M. Patterson, D. D. 

One and unending is that triumph-song 
Which to the angels and to us belong. 


382 


— J. M. Neale. 


WORD SPOKEN BY ANGELS 


September 24. 

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, and it was 
ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator.—Galatians 3:19. 

T HE obedience of men is to imitate the obedience of angels, and 
rational beings on earth are to live unto God, as rational 
beings in heaven are to live unto Him. —Law. 

But it is chiefly from a comparison of the gospel with the law, 
both in its dispensation and its character, that we see its transcen¬ 
dental glory. The ministration of the law brought the angels from 
heaven to earth, but the ministration of the gospel required the 
incarnation of the God of angels. “If the word spoken by an¬ 
gels”—that is, the law given on Sinai—“was steadfast, how shall 
we escape if we neglect so great salvation 1” 

—Christmas Evans. 


God's angels drop, like sands of gold, 

Our duties midst life's shining sands, 

And from them, one by one, we mould 
Our own bright crown with patient hands. 

From dust and dross we gather them, 

We toil and stoop for love's sweet sake, 

To find each worthy act a gem 
In glory's kingly diadem, 

Which we may daily richer make. 

—Anonymous. 


Hark! from the center of the flame, 

All armed and feathered with the same, 

Majestic sounds break through the smoky cloud, 

Sent from the all-creating tongue, 

A flight of cherubs guard .the words along 
And bear their fiery low to the retreating crowd. 

—Isaac Watts. 


- 383 - 


EVER-BLOOMING YOUTH. 


September 25. 

And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received 
me as an angel of God.—Galatians 4:14. 

T HE angels of God, being in the possession of ever-vigorons, 
ever-blooming youth, destined to survive and triumph over 
time and labor, must carry with it a sense of personal importance 
which, tempered and refined by perfect humility, cannot but be 
elevated in a manner to which there is no parallel. Angels, then, 
present us with an object of contemplation, resplendent with in¬ 
herent light, beauty, and greatness, with nothing to tarnish, noth¬ 
ing to impair its luster, nothing to alloy the pleasure of the be¬ 
holder; a vivid landscape, formed of all the fine varieties of nov¬ 
elty and greatness, without one misshapen, decayed, or lifeless 
object to lessen its perfection; a morning of the spring without 
a cloud to overcast it; a sun without a spot, shining only with the 
various colors of unmingled light. —Dwight. 

Come to me, angels! The room of my spirit 
Is garnished and swept for a season by prayer; 

I have cast out just to win you anear it, 

All the earth vanities brooding in there; 

Come to me, angels! 

Lift for a moment my curtain of care! 

—Augustus C. Bristol. 

Does he delight to hear bold seraphs tell 
How Michael battled, and the dragon fell? 

Or, mixed with milder cherubim, to glow 
In hymns of love, not ill-essay’d below? 

—Thomas Tickell. 


- 384 - 


f 



THE ANGEL LIBERATING PETER 

















DREAM OF PILATE’S WIFE 

(See page 360) 


















FORMED INTO ARMIES. 


September 26, 


In the heavenly places far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, 
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to 
come.—Ephesians 1:24. 


HUS we gaze with wonder and admiration upon the angel 



1 hosts; we behold the Redeemer in His glory and His saving 
work; for they all cluster around Him and bow before Him in 
worship; so true is it that everything in revelation, properly con¬ 
sidered, leads us right up to Christ, and finds its center in the 
Cross of Calvary. As the mystery of the Cross is an object of 
intense study to the angels, so let it be the theme of our undying 
meditation. The angels look on as spectators—we as interested 
parties. He has passed by them that He might take on Him the 
seed of Abraham. He made no provision for their lost number; 
He provides a salvation sufficient for all of us. He no longer ap¬ 
pears at intervals as the angel of the Lord, clothed in a human 
body, but has passed forever into the heavenly places, our Lord 
and King. — R. M. Patterson, D. D. 

Among the angels there are thrones, dominions, principalities 
and powers. There are cherubs and seraphs. There are angels 
and archangels. More than one text of Scripture would lead us to 
think that they are formed into hosts or armies. Some of them 
are princes and heads. Exactly how these orders are arranged 
we know not, and we never shall know in this life. Nor would 
it do us any good to learn more on this matter now. God has 
told us all that He thought was best for us to know. 


—Plumer. 


Beyond the glittering starry globe, 

Far as the eternal hills, 

There in the boundless world of light, 
Our great Redeemer dwells. 
Immortal angels, bright and fair, 

In countless armies shine 
At his right hand, with golden harps, 
To offer songs divine. 


—James French and Daniel Tanner. 
-385- 


CELESTIAL HIERARCHY. 


September 27. 

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers irt heavenly places might be 
known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.—-Ephesians 3:10; 

T HERE are nine choirs, of angels, distributed into three hier¬ 
archies. They are the Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, 
Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels and An¬ 
gels. Dionysius the Areopagite—to whom St. Paul confided all 
that he had seen, when transported to the third heaven—teaches 
there are three orders of angels: the superior—Cherubim, Sera¬ 
phim, and Thrones; the middle—Dominions, Principalities, and 
Powers; the inferior—Virtues, Archangels, and Angels. Each 
hierarchy is ordained that it might lead the less dignified, which 
is next in order to it, towards God. 11 It remained for the theolog¬ 
ians of the Middle Ages to exercise their fruitful imaginations in 
originating a systematic classification of the Orders of the Heav¬ 
enly Host, and assigning to each rank its distinctive office. The 
warrant for these discriminations may seem insufficient to skep¬ 
tical minds, but speaking broadly, this classification was based 
upon statements of St. Paul.” . — C. E. Clement. 

.; • 

Yet fairer is that heaven, in which do reign 
The sovereign Powers and mighty Potentates, 

Which on their high protections do contain 
All mortal princes and imperial states; 

And fairer yet* whereas the royal,seats 
And heavenly Dominations are set, 

From whom all earthty governance is fet. 

— Spenser. 1 

Ancient names corresponding with the Scripture titles of the 
nine orders of the celestial hierarchy: 

Urie.-Seraphim. 

The blessed Seraph doth imply, 

The love we owe to the Most High. 

Zophiel-Cherubim. 

God’s knowledge treats the Cherubkn, 

He nothing knows that knows not God. 

- 380 * 4 - 


THE HEAVENLY POWERS. 


387 






Zaphkiel-Thrones. 

All glory to the Holy One, 

Even Him that sits upon the Throne. 

Zadkiel-Dominions. 

There is no power, no domination, 

But from the Lord of our Salvation. 

; Haniel-Virtues. 

We aim at the celestial glory, 

Below the moon all’s transitory. 

Raphael-Powers. 

The mighty power of God was shown, 

When the great Dragon was o’er thrown. 

Chamiel-Principalities. / , 

In heaven, in earth, in hell some sway, 

Others again are taught to obey. 

Michael-Archangel. 

Michael whom Satan durst oppose, 

Can guard us. from inferior foes. 

Gabriel-Angel. 

The angel unto man known best, 

As last of nine, concludes the rest. 

'—Clayton’s Angelology. 



/ 



ANGEL-WORSHIP. 


September 28. 

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of 
angels.—Colossians 2:18. 

T HERE was an angelology, and a worship of angels, on which 
the Apostle animadverts with severity. —G. P. Tesher. 

Christians in the second centuiy held the belief that there 
was a tutelary angel for each nation, city and person. Even the 
great Ambrose insisted on the worship of angels. But the council 
of Laodicea condemned as heretics the Phrygian sect of 4 4 Angel¬ 
ica” for the adoration of angels. Pretended apparitions of 
Michael the Archangel led in the fifth century to the institution 
of the 4 4 Feast of St. Michael , 11 which was celebrated in honor of 
all the angels. —Anonymous. 

In the fourth century there were those who directly worshiped 
angels, and had private meetings for that purpose. They were 
expressly condemned by the thirty-fifth canon of the council of 
Laodicea; wherein that council adjudged this practice to be 
idolatry, and apostasy from Jesus Christ. —Dr. Gell. 

Worship God, and we shall be secure of the good offices of 
His angels; but worship angels, and we may be sure we displease 
both them and Him that sends them. —Dr. Young. 

Thee, 0 Great God, we praise! 

To Thee the Archangels and high throned Powers, 

The Cherubim and Seraphim, 

Chant aloud, with one accord, evermore. 

Through eternity’s resplendent hours, 

In prostration lowly: Holy, holy, 

Holy is the God whom we adore! 

Holy is the Lord whose praise we sing. 

—St. Ambrose. 


-388- 


STOEY OF THE ARCHANGELS. 


September 29. 

For the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
and with the trump of God.—I Thessalonians 4:16. 

T HE archangels alone have names; and, being known to us hv 
them, as well as in connection with certain important events 
in heaven and on earth, we involuntarily think of them with a 
more intimate and at the same time a more reverent and sympa¬ 
thetic feeling than we can possibly have for the numberless 
nameless angels of the heavenly choir. But the story of the 
archangels and their wonderful deeds, as told in Scripture and 
in the sacred legends, impresses us with a vivid sense of their 
marvelous power and wisdom, as well as of their tender sympathy 
for the human beings whom they protected and served in their 
office of guardians and defenders. —Clara Erskine Clement. 

We read in sacred Scripture of the Archangel (as if he were 
single and alone), who seems to be the High Sheriff in the grand 
and last Assize, to have the Posse Comitatus, and to come with 
the trump of God and to sound it before the Judge, in order to 
startle and awake the dead in their graves, and summon them to 
the universal tribunal. Michael also is expressly called the 
Archangel; and is said, as in the head of his angels, to fight with 
the Dragon (the Prince of Hell) and his angels. In Daniel 10:13 
indeed he is styled “one of the chief princes,” but it may be 
read (as in the margin) “the first of the chief princes.” But 
since it does not fully appear that any one is called an Archangel 
but he, the query will be whether he be one (and that the first) 
of the seven (supposed) princes, or the head and monarch of 
them all. —John Reynolds, 1723. 

When fell upon him smote 
Eyes of divine light, eyes of high rebuke— 

For this was Michael, God’s messenger. 

Edwin Arnold. 

like the shields of light 

Archangels bear, who, armed with love and might, 

.Watch upon heaven’s battlements at night. 

—Adelaide A. Proctor. 


- 38.9 - 


390 


WORK OF THE ARCHANGELS. 


Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, 

Eternal King, by the heavens and earth adored! 

Angels and archangels sing, 

Chanting everlastingly 
To the blessed Trinity. 

—Werner’s Choral. 

When Thon, attended gloriously from heaven, 

Shalt in the sky appear, and from Thee send 
The summoning Archangels to proclaim 
Thy dread tribunal! forthwith from all winds 
The living, and forthwith the cited dead 
Of all past ages, to the general doom 
Shall hasten. 

—Milton. 


Th’ archangel voice, the trump of God, the cry 
Of startled nature, rending earth and sky, 

Shall charge the living, raise the dead, and bring 
All nations to the presence of their King, 

Whose flaming ministers on either hand 
Ten thousand times ten thousand angels stand, 

To witness time’s full roll forever sealed, 

And that eternity to come revealed, 

That era in the reign of Deity, 

When sin, the curse, and death no more can be. 

—Montgomery. 





“TO YOU WHO ARE TROUBLED.” 


September 30. 


And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
from heaven with his mighty angels.—II Thessalonians 1:7. 



OD employs angels to carry his saints to glory when they 


die. The angels that take care of us on this earth, while 
saints of the Most High, are not going to leave us when we go 
down to the gates of death. How many times people say to me: 
4 4 Can you tell us why it is that when a saint is dying he frequently 
says, 4 Oh, the angels have come! Don’t you see them?’ ” Yes, 
I can. It is God’s appointed way, and their perceptions are 
quickened. I cannot see the angels today, of course, as I shall 
see them just as I enter the heavenly land. When the saints pass 
away, the angels take their souls and they are 4 4 carried by the 
angels.” I do not expect to want any wings for my soul to fly 
away on, for the angels will bear away every saint that passes 
from this to the better land. —Graves. 


I’ve almost gained my heavenly home, 
My spirit loudly sings; 

The holy ones, behold they come! 

I hear the noise of wings. 

Oh, come, angel band, 

Come and around me stand; 

Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings 
To my immortal home. 


Anonymous. 


Have we no carols?—Are we deaf and dumb 
Save to the great world ’s money-murmuring hum! 
Does God seem absent?—Are the angels gone? 


—A. Matheson. 


- 391 - 




BOOK X. 


©ctober. 


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October 


GOD, SEEN OF ANGELS. 

©ctober X. 

And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the 
flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels.—I Timothy 3:16. 

T HERE is no declaration in the whole Bible more serious or 
fuller of authority than that every Christian, however 
humble, has angels specially charged with his welfare, and still 
beholding the face of our Heavenly Father, dwelling in His pres¬ 
ence. Now this is what Christians believe: 4 ‘The Lord Christ 
does for them, so they are at some loss to understand why angels 
are wanted in the matter. We have no right to entertain any * 
such difficulty. If God is pleased, and Christ is pleased, to em¬ 
ploy angels as He employs apostles and evangelists, priests, 
deacons and many other agencies and means, it is to our loss, or 
at our peril, that we demur to accept the service of angels.” 

—Rev. T. Mozley. 

Let us not overlook among the celestial ministries what may 
be called the angels of inspiration—the inspiration which created 
our sacred Scriptures and which fills our minds and souls today 
with heavenly visions and voices. What are our serious impres¬ 
sions and profound convictions, what our gleams of insight, what 
our touches of finer feeling, what our nobler impulses, what our 
longings and aspirations, what those formless visions that some¬ 
times illuminate our days, what those unvoiced words which we 
have heard again and again amid the silence of the hills, under 
the midnight stars, by the wayside of quiet meditation, in mo¬ 
ments of trial when we have been deeply moved? What are they 
all but the visitations of the living God? The old Hebrew would 

- 395 - 



396 


THE BROTHERHOOD OF AtfGELS. 


have described them as the angels of God coming to him, and 
the angels of God speaking to him. 

—Rev. John Hunter, D. D. 

Hail td the unknown 
Mightier beings 
Whom we anticipate! 

What in the human 
Typed we behold 
Leads to a faith 
In the primal Divine. 

The immortals 
Deeming them brothered 
With what is most human 
In the great Cosmos, 

Willing and working 
What in their small lives 
Men may achieve. 

—Goethe. 



V 



FEAST OF ANGEL-GUARDIANS. 

October 2. 


I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, that thou 
observe these things.—I Timothy 5:21. 

' '!<• 



CTOBER 2nd is the “Feast of the Holy Angel-Guardians.” 


I have already had occasion to notice that the guardian- 
angels of Christianity had the same office assigned to them that 
the pagans attributed to their guardian-genii. ‘ ‘ That particular 
angels are appointed,” says Alban Butler, “and commanded of 
God to watch over each person among his servants—that is an 
article of the Catholic faith of which no ecclesiastical writer 
within the pale of the Church in any age entertained the least 
doubt.” Indeed, it would be difficult to point out any difference 
between the two, beyond that of mere name, except that the 
former, in addition to their duty as guardians, had also to register 
the crimes of their respective proteges in this world, that they 
might bear witness against them in the next. 


—George Soane. 


The 2nd of October was made the Feast of the Guardian An¬ 
gels, setting this special phalanx of the heavenly army aside from 
all others. But as the Church, gathering the months into her 
hands, transforms them into spiritual blossoms and with them 
weaves an unfading wreath to lay at the tabernacle door, so the 
month of October is the flower of the angels, and during its 
thirty-one days they are kept particularly in the minds and hearts 
of her children. 


“ White winged angels meet the child 
On the vestibule of life.” 


And they follow it through all the years allotted to it upon this 
terrestrial globe; nor does the bright spirit leave its charge until 
the soul, having been withdrawn from its earthly tenement, re¬ 
ceives its sentence, whether for weal or woe. 

The first poet to commemorate these ethereal and intangible 
creations was the shepherd-king of Israel. But at the mention 


— 397 — 


398 


THE EYE OF ANGEL’S DAY. 

of them in connection with the literature belonging to them, one 
naturally turns to Milton and his immortal epic. To be sure, he 
gives us angels as grim, stern and solemn as himself and his 
poem; here and there, however, will break forth a picture of any 
grace and beauty which astonishes. He evidently shared St. 
Thomas’ idea regarding the action of the angels in the creation, 
as in the tenth book of Paradise Lost: 

Such was their- song, 

While the Creator, calling forth by name 
His mighty angels, gave them several charge, 

Assorted best with present things.” 

'' -M. . 

The sunshine on the minster lay, 

It was the Eve of Angel’s Day, x 
And low in prayer and holy joy 
A mother knelt beside her boy. 

The l east of Angels came again, 

But now the mother knelt in pain; 

Again she breathed a tender prayer, 

But ah! her boy no mor: was there. 

—-F. E. Weatherly. 



THE HISTORY OF THE ANGELS. 


October 3. 

Being made so much better than the angels.—Hebrews 4:1. 

T HE History of the Angels. Here the question is simply 
whether or not they have a history. If angels are personal 
beings, as we have learned, and if they stand in organic connec¬ 
tion with the created universe, then their life is necessarily 
historical. The history of our world is but its developed life 
told or related. So the history of the angels is but their devel¬ 
oped life told or related. What can we know about it? We 
cannot tell, for instance, when angels were created; hence we 
cannot tell how old the angelic world is. The fact , however, that 
they were created is clearly revealed. It is not revealed in Scrip¬ 
ture that they were all created simultaneously, nor can we there 
learn that some are older than others; but it is evident that their 
relation to one another is not generic; they were not born from 
a common angelic parentage, but directly from their common 
Heavenly Parent. For this reason they are common brother¬ 
hood; they are 44 sons of God,” held together as one family by 
a common life and a common bond of love. Their union is 
organic, though not generic. Hence they are a fraternity—they 
are, as said, 44 the sons of God,” evidently made in His image. 
And if sons of God, their creation was (like that of man) an 
actualization of the eternal idea of sonship as it is in His only 
begotten Son. He is the 4 4 Prototokos ” of the angelic world as 
well as the human. In this is involved the truth that the angels 
were created in the image of God, as said; in righteousness and 
true holiness. —Rev. Moses Kieffer, D. D. 


They boast ethereal vigor, and are form M 
From seeds of heavenly birth. 

—Virgil. 


The all-powerful God 
Angels tribes 
Through might of hand 
The Holy Lord 
Ten established, 

- 399 - 


400 PRAISING GOD. 

In whom He trusted well 
That, they His service 
Would follow 
Work His will; 

Therefore gave He them wit, 

And shaped them with His hands, 

The Holy Lord. 

—Caedmon. 

Praise be to God, the Designer, Builder of earth and of heaven! 

Fashioned His angels He hath, making them messengers still; 

Two wings to some and four wings to some, and to some He hath given 
Six and eight silver wings, making what marvels He will. 

—Edwin Arnold. 



Lefier 

LOVE 

(See page 379) 













TO HEAVEN 




(See page 374) 

















THE BADGE OF IMMORTALITY. 

©ctober 4. 

For unto which of the angels said he at any time: Thou art my son, this day have 
I begotten thee.—Hebrews 1:5. 

B UT in some cases it has been His pleasure to employ one or 
more of the heavenly hosts in His communications with 
sinful humanity, and who has also commanded His witness to 
record such supernatural and superhuman interpositions for 
man’s instruction and hope, encouragement and comfort. And 
assuredly we owe it to our Divine Teacher to receive with grati¬ 
tude of reverential humility and undoubting credence what Deity 
has vouchsafed to reveal to us of the disinterested cheerfulness 
with which benevolent angels are always ready to promote the 
spiritual welfare and temporal interests of those who put their 
trust in Jehovah. In 1 Chron. 21, what a splendid vision is therd 
presented to us! A spiritual warrior with a drawn sword and 
outstretched arm, of surpassing strength, glorious brightness, and 
probably of prodigious magnitude, standing in mid-air, extended 
over the holy city of Jerusalem, which lay in beauty and repose 
beneath an evening sky. This is one of the glimpses afforded 
us of what is perpetually passing around us, but which our eyes 
are holden from seeing. . . . One leading attribute of the 

angels is their astonishing activity. 

“The speed of God's (angels) time counts not.” 

Another distinguishing attribute is their unfading and immortal 
youth. This peculiarity is beautifully pointed out by the s&a 
(living ones) applied to them by St. John in the Apocalypse, and 
by Ezekiel. By this appellation we are instructed that life is a 
pre-eminent and glorious constituent of their nature—life as a 
peculiar property and in a most distinguishing degree. The 
truth of the immortality of the angels is also beautifully exempli¬ 
fied and confirmed by the adolescent appearance of those which 
were seen by Mary in the tomb of Christ. The youth of the 
angels, like their other attributes, is destined to refine, improve 
and brighten forever. In the celestial kingdom, the redeemed of 
mankind will resemble the angels of God, glorious, unchangeable 

- 401 - 


402 


THEY JOIN WITH US TO PRAISE HIS NAME. 


and immortal—resplendent in the presence of Jehovah, and beau¬ 
tified in the eternal enjoyment of an unalterable felicity and 
unfading glory. —Clayton’s Angelology. 


Jesus, who passed the angels by, 
Assumed our flesh to bleed and die; 
And still He makes it His abode; 

As man He fills the throne of God. 

Our next of kin, our Brother now, 

Is He to whom the angels bow; 

They join with us to praise His name, 
And we the nearest interest claim. 


—Charles Wesley. 


VEIL THEIR FACES. 


©ctober 5. 


And again when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith: And let 
all the angels of God worship Him.—Hebrews 1:6. 

T T IS most probable the angels knew of the mystery of the 
1 Incarnation by Divine revelation, and believed in it. St. 
Thomas among the early schoolmen, and Suarez among the mod¬ 
ern, are the leaders in the opinion which holds that the bad angels 
fell because of this wonderful act of Divine condescension. They 
desired the hypostatic union for themselves, and envied it to man. 
But it was fitting for the glory and honor of the Son of God, who 
was to come in human flesh, that the angels should know this 
mystery. Moreover, Christ is the head of the angels, and the 
angels His ministers; and therefore it was proper that from the 
commencement they should acknowledge Him as their Lord and 
Master. —Rev. R. O’Kennedy. 


Cherubim and seraphim 

Veil their faces with their wings; 

Eyes of angels are too dim 

To behold the King of Kings, 

While they sing eternally, 

To the blessed Trinity. 

—C. Wordsworth. 

Dante describes the angelic boatman, “the bird of God.” 
. . . He witnesses, while in Paradise, the assumption of the 

Blessed Virgin by her Son. In the ninth heaven he sees the 
three hierarchies, the nine choirs, classified and named by Diony¬ 
sius the Areopagite, who, having known St. Paul intimately at 
Athens, heard from his lips many of the revelations made to him 
when wrapped into the third heaven. The place of these hierar¬ 
chies is in succession beyond the chosen seven who stand before 
the throne. They each comprise three choirs. The first contains 
the seraphim lost in the contemplation of the perfections of their 
Creator; they are all on fire from love of Him, and from their 
numbers arises ever the flame of an adoration most pleasing to 
Him. The cherubim, wisest of the angelic host, chant ever their 

— 403 — 


404 


SEEING THE TRUTH IN GOD. 


hymns of praise to Him who gifted them with a wisdom approach¬ 
ing nearest to His own. The thrones, so called because these 
resplendent angels are raised above all the inferior hierarchies, 
to whom they carry the mandates of their King, sharing with the 
seraphim and cherubim the privilege of seeing the truth clearly 
in God Himself. — M. 

Hark! liark! with harps of gold 

What anthem do they sing? / 

The radiant clouds have backward rolled, 

And angels smite the string. 

“ Glory to God,”—bright wings 
Spread glistening and afar, 

And on the hallowed rapture wings 
From circling star to star. 


—E. H. Chapin. 


SPIRITUALITY OP ANGELs. 


©ctober 6 . 

And of the angels he saith: who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame 
of fire.—Hebrews 1:7. 

T HE angels are spirits. This term expresses, first something 
positive, and second negative, concerning the nature or being 
of the angels. The idea of spirituality is the positive phase of 
this term. According to it, the angels are free personalities, 
endowed with self-conscionsness, in opposition to the mere off¬ 
spring of nature, incapable of freedom and without personality. 
The whole Biblical view of these beings conforms to this desig¬ 
nation of them as spirits, from the most essential peculiarities of 
their being. They never appear as mere forces of nature, or as 
unconscious cosmical potencies. The negative phase of the term 
“spirits,’’ by which the angels in general are designated, does 
not force us to deny all idea of body in connection with the 
angels, for there are also spiritual bodies; but merely the idea 
of a body other than spiritual—a fleshy body, compounded of 
earthly materials. —Kurtz. 

Angels thus fair, each other far excelling, 

As to the highest they approach more near, 

Yet is that highest far beyond all telling, 

Fairer than all the rest which there appear, 

Though all their beauties joined together were; 

How then can mortal tongue hope to express 
The image of such endless perfectness? 

— Spenser. 

Outside and in, and wardened worthily 
That, in its ordered precincts, angel’s wings 
May float and fold. 

—Edwin Arnold. 


-405- 


SIMPLICITY AND DIGNITY. 


©ctober 7. 

But to which of the angels said he at any time: sit on my right hand, until I make 
thine enemies thy footstool.—Hebrews 1:13. 

B UT it is in painting that angels receive their fullest por¬ 
traiture. ... So far we may follow the more human, 
traditional and legendary love of angelic phenomena, in which 
pagan and Christian thoughts, and earth and heaven, and things 
congruous and incongruous, are inextricably blended, and which 
have greatly helped to confuse our minds and spread a Sadducean 
skepticism of angels altogether. Turning to the Scriptures them¬ 
selves, we are in quite another atmosphere. Angels are recog¬ 
nized there from the first, from the cherubim that kept the way of 
the Tree of Life with a flaming sword turning every way, to the 
last, to the angel that was sent to Patmos by Jesus to testify the 
Apocalypse to John. They are so woven into the texture of the 
Bible that to reject them is to reject it. They are recognized 
without apology or surprise, having as real an existence as men. 
They take their place in the history with simplicity and dignity; 
supernatural, but without a trace of the marvelous. They cannot 
be ignored in Bible teaching, and they occur often enough to 
reveal their peculiar position. Uniformly they appear as men. 
They eat, sit, walk, stand, are clothed, speak and are spoken to, 
lay their hands on men, receive the courtesies paid by host to 
guest. It is this that gives point to the saying that we may 
entertain angels unawares. From all this, as well as from the 
fact of their creation, it might be inferred they are not without a 
body. What is related of the resurrection body of the Lord is as 
wonderful, and to us incomprehensible, as what is related of 
them. . . . Yet we know much about them—that in power 

and might they are superior to man, that they excel in strength. 
We read also of their wisdom, knowing all things that are in the 
earth, discerning the good and bad, yet ignorant of the day of 
the Son of Man, and desiring to penetrate the mystery of the 
Gospel. It is only by casual allusion that we learn of their ap¬ 
pearance and habit, as they are introduced upon some mission to 
man. Their service to him is related with much detail. Thev 

- 406 - 


MINISTERING TO CHRIST. 


407 


accompany God’s servants upon important missions, are messen¬ 
gers between God and His prophets, carry answers to prayer and 
carry prayer back again to God, warn of impending dangers, 
cross the purposes of evil men, rescue some and smite others. 
. . . Angels accompanied Christ from heaven, had charge over 

Him on earth, ministered to Him in the desert, strengthened Him 
in Gethsemane, rolled the stone from His sepulcher, and an¬ 
nounced His ascension. They encamp about the saints, watch 
over children, rejoice in the conversion of every sinner, and bear 
the righteous at death to heaven. — W. Fleming Stevenson. 

Sweet to rejoice in lively hope, 

That when my change shall come, 

Angels will hover round my bed 
And waft my spirit home. 


—Toplady. 


COURIERS OF THE MOST HIGH. 


©ctobet 8. 


Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall he 
heirs of salvation?—Hebrews 1:14. 


T HE Book in which, we read about our Father, and which 
speaks to us of His love, and conveys to us His instructions, 
is melodious with the rustle of angel wings. In many a page, 
we hear them like music; we are never amazed when we meet 
an angel messenger or listen to an angel message in any chapter 
of Cld Testament history, in any story of hard or prophet, in 
any quietly told account of what happened in the New Testament 
dispensation, after our Lord had come to dwell among men. 
Color and music, motion and swiftness, stately appearing of a 
single herald, tumultuous rush of a mighty throng are in the Book. 
Angels are always taking part on the stage of that superb drama 
of the centuries which the Book has preserved through changing 
dynasties from the earliest days until now. They never had time 
to waste, these couriers of the Most High. Whatever was their 
errand, they did it and were gone; gone as the wind goes when 
it has sped a ship, or rocked a forest, or cleansed a town of some 
evil disease. They tarried for no gossip; they were never other 
than messengers who were neither kin nor acquaintance, who 
being aloof, and being on service, had their duty to do and might 
not linger. 

Since to the dark Gethsemane 
The pitying angels soon or late 
Must haste with tenderest ministry, 

And each new play is but the gate 
To some rich temple, rising fair 
That builds to heaven a golden stair. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 


There angels in their trina. iriplicities 

About Him wait, and on His will depend, 
Either with nimble wings to cut the skies, 
When He them on His messages doth send, 
Or on His own dread presence to attend, 
Where they behold the glory of His light 
And carol hymns of love both day and night. 


— 408 — 


— Spenser. 


SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE. 


©ctober 9 


For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, how shall we escape if we neglect 
so great salvation?—Hebrews 2:2. 


E HAVE evidence from Scripture that the connection of 



V V the angelic world with the Christian system is of large and 
important moral benefit. In the administration of grace to man, 
there is a collateral reference to angels; and the knowledge they 
thus acquire is of all others most calculated to minister to their 
holiness. That they need no redemption, we know; for the elect 
angels have not fallen. It is not, therefore, in the way of direct 
redemption that the moral benefit flows to them. They had seen 
bright displays of the exuberant goodness of God, hut they had 
never seen love so realized, so embodied, as in the gift of the 
Son of God for the salvation of man; as when they saw love 
teaching, love traveling, love agonizing, love dying, that man 
might not perish. —Rev. Richard Watson, D. D. 


Then, how He looked and how He smiled, 
What wondrous things He said; 

Sweet cherubs, stay, dwell here awhile, 
And tell what Jesus did. 

Thus while, with unambitious strife, 

Th* ethereal minstrels rove, 

Through all the labors of His life, 

And wonders of His love. 


—Isaac Watts. 


To those who call on Him the Lord is nigh, 
His ear is ever open to their cry, 

His angels ever watch around and wait, 

To minister to fallen man’s estate. 


—Legend of S. Cenacolo. 


- 409- 


CHRIST’S MINISTERS OF GRACE. 


October to. 

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we 
speak!—Hebrews 2:5. 

T HE New Testament is the history of the Church of Christ, 
every member of which is united to Him. Accordingly, the 
angels are revealed now as ‘‘ministering spirits” to each indi¬ 
vidual member of Christ for His spiritual guidance and aid. The 
records of their visible appearance are but infrequent; yet their 
presence and their aid are referred to familiarly, almost as things 
of course, ever after the Incarnation. They are spoken of as 
watching over Christ’s little ones, as rejoicing over a penitent 
sinner, as present in the worship of Christians, and as hearing 
the souls of the redeemed into Paradise. In one word, they are 
Christ’s ministers of grace now, as they shall be of judgment 
hereafter. By what method they act, we cannot know of our¬ 
selves, nor are we told, perhaps lest we should worship them 
instead of Him, whose servants they are; but of course their 
agency, like that of human ministers, depends for its efficiency 
on the aid of the Holy Spirit. —Strong. 

. E ’en now to my expecting eyes 
The heaven-built towers of Zion rise; 

E’en now with glad survey 
I view her mansions, that contain 
The angelic forms, an awful train, 

And shine with cloudless day. 

—Z winger. 


Unto Thee be glory given, 

Word incarnate! evermore; 

Thee spirits blessed in heaven— 

Thee the angel choirs adore; 

Still their hallelujahs rise 
Midst the anthems of the skies. 

—Mrs. H. M. Chester. 


-410- 


INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. 

©ctober U. 

Thou raadest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownest him with glory and 
honoi.—Hebrews 2:7. 

A NGELS are not under the law of specific moral or generic 
unity as man is. We are bound up in one bundle of life. 
Angels are separate creations. Each angel, so far as we know, 
was created direct from the hand of God, and is responsible for 
himself alone. But each man is dependent for physical and 
moral life upon his forefathers. God had ordained that law of 
means which has come down to him from past generations. There 
is no grander heritage than that of a holy parentage. The law 
of race unity governs all of our earthly life. And it is not easy 
for us to conceive a state of being like that of the angels apart 
from this our law of life. Angels are a company rather than a 
race. — Rev. N. Burwash, S. T. D. 


Not for increase to himself 
Of good, which may not be increased, bnt forth 
To manifest His glory by its beams; 

Inhabiting His own eternity, 

To circumscribe His being; as He willed 
Into new natures like unto Himself, 

Eternal love unfolded: nor before 
As if in dull inaction, torpid, lay, 

For, not in dull process of before or aft, 

Upon these natures moved the spirit of God. 

—Dante. 


God is Spirit, 

Bade spirits exist, and they existed. Forms 
Of light, in infinite varieties, 

Awoke in legions around, or one by one 
Successively appeared, succession there, 

In numbers passing thine arithmetic, 

Might be more rapid than any words, and yet 
Exhaust the flight of ages. There is space 
For ages in the boundless past. But each 
Came from the hand of God distinct, the fruit 
Of His eternal councils, the design 
Of His omniscient love, His workmanship; 

Each seraph, no angelic parentage 
Betwixt him and the Great Artificer, 

Born of the Spirit, and by the Word create. 

--Bickersteth. 


-411- 


CELESTIAL RESPLENDENCE. 


©ctober 12. 

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels t or the suffering of 
death, crowned with glory and honor; that He hy the grace of God should taste death for 
every man,—Hebrews 2:9. 

T HE angels wonder more than men, because they understand 
the mystery of the cross. Their superior intelligence min¬ 
isters more abundant matter to their love. From the very first, 
He invites the angels to adore it—of humility towards Himself, 
and of humility towards us, their fellow creatures. It was the 
test to which He put their loyalty. He showed them His beloved 
Son, in His sacred humanity, united to a lower nature than their 
own; and in that lower nature crowned their King and Head, 
to be worshiped by them with absolute and unconditional adora¬ 
tion. The son of a human mother was to be their Head. He 
showed them in that blood the source of all their graces. 

—Father Faber. 

Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright, 

Filled with celestial resplendence and light; 

These that, where night never followeth day, 

Raise the 11 Thrice-holy 1 ’ song ever and aye! 

These are Thy counselors: these Thou dost own, 

God of Sabaoth! the nearest Thy throne; 

These are Thy ministers; these Thou dost send, 

Help of the helpless ones! man to defend. 

Still let them succor us; still let them fight, 

Lord of angelic hosts, battling for right! 

Till, where their anthems they ceaselessly pour, 

We with the angels may bow and adore. 

—John M. Neale. 


- 412 — 


NATURE OF ANGELS. 


©ctober 13. 


For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of 
Abraham.—Hebrews 2:16. 


HO will stand for ns! “ Some angel, ’ ’ we may think, from 



V V heaven! The angels ‘ ‘ in no wise. ’ ’ Glorious creatures 
indeed they are, celestial spirits, but yet ‘ ‘ ministering spirits; ’ ’ 
“in all purity serving the God of purity,’’ says Nazianzen; not 
fit to intercede, hut ready at His beck; with wings, indeed, but 
not with healing under them; but ‘ 4 second lights, ’ ’ too weak to 
lighten so great a darkness; their light is their obedience, and 
their fairest elogium, “Ye angels that do His will.” They are 
but finite agents, and so not able to make good an infinite loss. 
They are in their own nature mutable, and so not fit to settle 
them who were more mutable, more subject to change than them¬ 
selves; not able to change our vile bodies, much less to change 
our souls, which are as immortal as they, yet lodged in tabernacles 
of flesh which will fall of themselves and cannot be raised again 
but by His power whom the angels worship. Ah! in prison we 
were, an “Cui Angelorum?” written on the door; miserable 
captives, so deplorably lost that the whole hierarchy of angels 
could not help us. —Farendon. 


Oh, listen, man! 

A voice with us speaks the startling word, 
“Man, thou shalt never die!” Celestial voices 
Hymn it around our souls: according harps, 

By angels’ fingers touched when the mild stars 
Of morning sang together, sound forth still 
The song of our great immortality. 


—Richard Henry Dana. 


Swift messengers from heaven they wing their way 
And round the sons of men as guardians stay. 


-C. M. P. 


-413- 


A COMPANY RATHER THAN A RACE. 


October 14. 

But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.—Hebrews 12:22. 

Y EA, angels as well as saints will be our blessed acquaintances. 

Those who now are willingly our ministering spirits will 
willingly then be our companions in joy. They who had such 
joy in heaven for our conversion will gladly rejoice with us in 
our glorification. We shall be “ fellow citizens with the saints 
and of the household of God.” Be much, then, in the angelic 
work of praise. The more heavenly the employment, the more 
it will make the spirit heavenly. Praising God is the work of 
angels and saints in heaven, and will be our own everlasting 
work; and if we were more in it now, we should be more like 
what we shall be then. —Baxter. 


On wheels of light, on wings of flame, 

The glorious hosts of Zion came; 

High heaven with songs of triumph rang, 

While thus they struck their harps and sang; 

“0 Zion, lift thy raptured eye; 

The long-expected hour is nigh; 

The joys of nature rise again, 

The Prince of Angels comes to reign!” 

—Thomas Campbell. 


Oh, how beautiful that region! 

Oh, how fair that heavenly legion! 

Human souls and angels blend. 

Glorious will that city be, 

Full of deep tranquillity, 

Light and peace from end to end! 

See the happy dwellers there 
Shine in robes of purity, 

Keep the laws of charity, 

Bound in firmest unity. 

—Thomas & Kempis. 


-414- 


ENTERTAINING ANGELS UNAWARES. 


©ctober 15. 

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels 
unawares.—Hebrews 13:2. 

I N ANCIENT days, remote in dim vagueness of the morning 
world, men looked for angel guests and were not disappointed. 
Sometimes in the hush of night, under the solemn stars, a way¬ 
farer might see a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, the 
rounds of which were trodden by angel feet, ascending and de¬ 
scending. Again in the tremulous sweetness of the early dawn, 
when the sky grew bright and golden and the birds began to sing 
in copse and hedge, angels came walking over dew-wet fields or 
encamped around beleaguered cities. At high noon they glided 
into homes where men sat at meat, or at eventide they sat beside 
men in the tent door. Nobody seemed surprised or alarmed or 
disturbed at a vision of angels; their forms majestic and com¬ 
manding, their faces serene and compassionate, their voices 
clear and vibrant struck no terror to the hearts of men. It was 
as if earth had a door ajar through which heavenly visitors came 
and went, and heavenly harmonies swept, and heavenly fragrance 
was wafted, and men and women then had an intimate converse 
with God, fuller, closer, more spontaneous than most of us now 
enjoy. As we have drifted farther away from the ideal of the 
child ever in the Father’s house, we have lost our birthright of 
fellowship with the Father’s angels. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 

In this dim world of clouding cares, 

We rarely know, till wildering eyes 
See white wings lessening up the skies, 

The angels with us unawares. 

—Gerald Massey. 


When the daylight is . declining 
In the western skies, 

And the stars in heaven are shining 
As the twilight dies, 

Voices on our hearts come stealing 
Like celestial airs, 

-415- 


416 


AtfGELlC VISITORS. 


To our spirit sense revealing 
Angels unawares. 

In the hours of morn and even, 

In the noon and night, 

Trooping down they come from heaven 
In their noiseless flight, 

To guide, to guard, to warn, to cheer us, 
’Mid our joys and cares; 

All unseen are hovering near us 
Angels unawares 

Oh, faint hearts, what consolation 
For us here below, 

That angelic ministration 
Guides us where we go: 

Every task that is before us 
Some blest spirit shares; 

Watchful eyes are ever o’er us, 

Angels unawares. 


—J. F. Waller. 



ARCESSITA AB ANGELIS 














mmm 


Amos Cassiol! 

THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL AND TOBIAS. 

See page 445 . 


•' 


- 


■ 
















THE UNDERSTANDING OF AN ANGEL. 


October 16 , 


Which things the angels desire to look into.—I Peter 1:12. 



HAT an inconceivable degree of wisdom must the holy 


V V angels have acquired by the use of their faculties, over 
and above that with which they were originally endowed, in the 
course of more than six thousand years! How imm ensely must 
their wisdom have increased, not only by surveying the hearts 
and ways of men in their successive generations, but by observing 
the works of God—His works of creation, providence and grace; 
and above all, by continually beholding the face of their Father 
which is in heaven! Who can comprehend what is the under¬ 
standing of angels—the extent of their knowledge—not only of 
the nature, attributes and works of God, whether of creation or 
providence, but of the circumstances, actions, words, tempers and 
thoughts of men! But great, however, as their understanding is, 
they are limited. They are represented as desirous of knowing 
more fully the wonders of redemption. 


The first-born sons of light 
Desire in vain its depths to see; 
They cannot reach the mystery, 

The length, the breadth, the height. 


—Wesley. 


Ride on, ride on in majesty! 

The winged squadrons of the sky 
Look down with sad and wondering eyes 
To see the approaching sacrifice. 


—Henry Hart Milman. 


Angels doubtless estimate the gift by the 
Giver; men too often the Giver by the gift. 


Christina Rossetti. 


- 417 - 


ANGELS SUBJECT TO GOD. 


October 17. 

Who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and 
powers being made subject unto Him.—I Peter 3:22. 

A NGELS are subject to Him upon whom objects spat—this is 
one of the wonders of heaven. Is it possible that the con¬ 
jectures of the old writers were true, that Satan rebelled against 
God because he heard a whisper that a man would one day be 
head over all the principalities and powers ? I do not know; but 
certainly the angels must often marvel that not Gabriel nor the 
brightest of the seraphim is next to God, but a man! Lord, what 
is man? Man, made of the dust of the earth, what is he that he 
should sit above more spiritual beings, crowned with glory and 
honor? Yet it is so. God has so set the Christ above all angels 
and principalities and powers. Is not this one of those things 
which angels desire to look into? Although Lucifer is fallen, 
there is yet no gap in heaven. Creatures in part material are 
lifted up to fill the void caused by the great dragon. Oh, think 
of it! The man Christ Jesus is Lord of all the shining ones! 
He can send an angel to comfort you in your grief. When you 
count up the available forces of your Lord, do not forget the 
invisible armies. The air will soon teem with invisible spirits, 
if they are needed for our defense, for our Savior is their Lord. 
They will count it all joy to do His bidding on our behalf. They 
are the chariots of God which He sendeth to the rescue of His 
own. The day shall come when all the hosts of heaven shall 
come down to earth attending the Son of Man; then shall they 
gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and at the same 
time they shall delight to display their loyalty to Him that once 
did hang upon the cross. —Spurgeon. 

Ye angels who stand round the throne, 

And view my Immanuel’s face, 

In rapturous songs make Him known; 

Tune, tune your soft harps to His praise. 

He formed you the spirits you are, 

So happy, so noble, so good; 

While others sunk down in despair, 

Confirmed by His power, ye stood. 


- 418 - 


—Anonymous. 


LOSS OF PRISTINE PURITY. 


©ctobet 18. 

For God spared not the angels that sinned, hut cast them down to hell and delivered 
them into the chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.—II Peter 2:4. 

W E LEARN from the Scripture that many angels, originally 
holy like the rest, fell from their pristine purity, becoming 
so transformed in character that all their powers are now used 
for the purpose of doing evil instead of good. These are to be 
identified with the devils so frequently mentioned in the Holy 
Writ. —New Revised Encyclopedia. 

It is a mighty change, to pass from the consideration of those 
bright spirits, who in their pristine glory and innocence still 
surround the throne of the Most High, to the consideration of 
those who have ‘ ‘ kept not their first estate, ’ ’ but who have been 
hurled from that splendor and magnificence which they previously 
enjoyed. The subject is one peculiarly interesting to us, because 
many passages of Holy Writ assure that among the employments 
in which the angels that sinned are engaged, one is that of tempt¬ 
ing mankind, causing them to swerve from their duty to God, 
and bringing upon them the same condemnation into which they 
themselves have fallen. And how mighty was the fall of an 
angel! We hear of no plan whatever being formed for their 
restoration. How terrible must be the condition of those who, 
remembering their former glory, feel that the gates of heaven are 
closed against them, that the war which they have brought upon 
themselves is a war of Omnipotence, that the terrors of God’s 
judgments are hanging over them! -Christmas. 

The Almighty, seeing their so bold assay, 

Kindled the flame of His consuming ire, 

And with His only breath them blew away 
From heaven’s height, to which they did aspire, 

To deepest hell, and lake of damned fire, 

Where they in darkness and dread horror dwell. 

Hating the happy light from which they fell, 


- 419 - 


*- Spenser. 


HUMBLE IN GLORY AND IMMORTALITY. 

October 19. 

Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation 
against them before the Lord.—II Peter 2:11. 

A MONG all creatures, the angels and men are most excellent. 

Some angels persisted in obedience, and were appointed 
unto the faithful service of God and men; and others fell of 
their own accord and ran headlong into destruction, and so be¬ 
came enemies to all good and to all the faithful. We condemn 
all opinions of all men whatsoever who think otherwise of the 
creation of angels than is delivered unto us by the Scriptures in 
the Apostolic Church of Christ. 

—Second Helvetic Confession. 

God also created the angels good, to be His messengers and 
to serve His elect; some of whom are fallen from that excellency, 
in which God created them, into everlasting perdition; and the 
others have, by the grace of God, remained steadfast and con¬ 
tinued in their primitive state. Therefore, we reject and abhor 
the error of the Sadducees, who deny the existence of spirits and 
angels. —The Belgic Confession- 

Could we forbear dispute, and practice love 
We should agree as angels do above. 

' —Waller. 

v I charge thee, fling away ambition: 

By that sin fell the angels. 

—Shakespeare. 


Do what thou wilt, thou shalt not so, 

Dark Angel! triumph over me: 

Lonely unto the lone I go; 

Divine, to the Divinity. 

—Lionel Johnson. 

And the Lord came, invisible as a thought, 

Three angels gleaming on His secret track, 

Prince Michael, Zagael, Gabriel, charged to guard 
The soul-forsaken body as it fell 
And bear it to the hidden sepulchre 
Denied forever to the search of man. 


— 420 


—George Eliot. 


kept not their lordship. 


©ctober 20. 

And the angels which kept not their first estate, hut left their own habitation, he hath 
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.—Jude 6. 

T HE angels were created perfectible, but not perfect. With 
them, as with all rational creatures, righteousness and holi¬ 
ness must become habitual. Their love and worship of God must 
be from choice, free, voluntary. Otherwise it could not be accept¬ 
able. In such service, however, is involved the idea of probation 
or trial. That the commencement of the angelic life, as well as 
the human, was a probationary period, does not admit of a doubt. 
The choice of God’s service implies the possibility of its opposite. 
Voluntary obedience implies the possibility of disobedience, and 
the very thought of such opposite choice, or disobedience, is 
temptation. The suggestion of such thought may be either from 
within or from without, or both. Whether or not there was any 
outward motive presented to the angelic mind for sinning against 
God we are not informed, nor does it belong properly to our 
subject to notice the various speculations that have been indulged 
in, with reference to the origin of evil. Its possibility, as actual¬ 
ized in fact, is all that belongs legitimately to our subject. From 
the fact that some angels sinned and became apostate it is lawful 
to infer that it was possible for all to sin. Now when we are met 
by the question: why did some continue, and develop in holiness, 
whilst others sinned? The only answer we can give is: because 
in this way the two classes respectively saw fit to exercise that 
freedom of will, that power to choose the good or the evil, with 
which the Creator endowed them. But why one class should 
choose a normal life, and the other class its opposite whilst in 
the same holy state of being, under the influence of the same holy 
motives we cannot tell. That sin should originate in heaven 
among the holy angels, in God’s immediate presence, is a “Gor¬ 
dian Knot,” which, to the best of our knowledge, has never been 
untied. All we know is that it was possible, that the possibility 
lay in the nature of the personal creature, and that it was actual¬ 
ized in a fearful apostacy. —Rev. Moses Keiffer, D. D. 


- 421 - 


422 


WAKING WITH THE ANGELS. 


As they “kept not their lordship/’ God has “kept them in 
everlasting bonds.’’ This darkness is considered as brooding 
over them and they under it. But the present penal detention is 
itself the prelude to a still more awful doom—“ the judgment of 
the great day.” —Dean Alford. 

Scripture does not reveal to us the immediate cause of the fall 
of the angels; and where Scripture is silent, it becomes not man 
to conjecture. Universal tradition says they fell by pride. 

“By that sin fell the angels. How then can man, 

Though the image of his Maker, hope to gain by it ? ’ ’ 

—Christmas. 

Which way I fly is hell—myself am hell! 

—Anonymous. 


Both day and night, is unto angels one; 

For He His beams doth still to them extend, 
That darkness there appeareth never none; 

Ne hath their day, ne hath their bliss an end, 
But there their termless time in pleasure spend; 
Ne never should their happiness decay, 

Had not they dared their Lord to disobey. 


—Spenser. 


ARCHANGELS ALONE HAVE NAMES. 

©ctober 21 . 

Yet Michael the archangel, when, contending with the devil, he disputed about the 
body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said: The Lord 
rebuke thee.—Jude 9. 

S T. MICHAEL is the patron saint of France. It was he who 
appeared to Joan of Arc in 1469. Louis XI. founded the 
military order of St. Michael. In the Roman Catholic Church, 
Michael is a saint, and his festival, called 4 4 Michaelmas , 9 9 is held 
September 29. —George Soane. 

In the Targum of Onkelos on Deut. 24:6, it is stated that the 
grave of Moses was given into the special custody of Michael. 
This primitive tradition is referred to by Jude, and by him treated 
as a matter of fact; and is to be regarded as a matter of fact by 
all who hold this Epistle as a part of the Canonical Scriptures. 

—Alford, in loco. 

When Satan would have entered the body of Moses, in order 
to personate the prophet and deceive the Jews, it was Michael 
who contended with the evil one and buried the body in an un¬ 
known place, as is distinctly stated by Jude. Signorelli chose this 
as the subject of one of his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 

Then God called Michael, him of pensive brow, 

Snow-vest and flaming sword, who knows all acts. 

“Go, bring the spirit of Moses unto me!” 

But Michael, with such grief as angels feel, 

Loving the mortals whom they succor, plead: 

“Almighty, spare me: it was I that taught 
Thy servant Moses: he is part of me, 

As I of Thy deep secrets, knowing them.” —George Eliot. 

Michael, the leader of the hosts of God, 

Who warred with Satan for the body of him 
Whom, living, God had loved,—if cherubim 
With cherubim contended for one clod 
Of human dust, for forty years that trod 
The gloomy desert of heaven’s chastisement, 

Are there not ministering angels sent 
To battle with the devils that roam abroad, 

Clutching our living souls? —Anna Maria Muloch. 

That eye is fixed on seraph throngs; 

That arm upholds the skv ; 

That ear is filled with angels’ songs; 

That love is throned on high. —James C. Wallace. 

- 423 - 


IN SWEETEST CADENCE. 


October 22. 

The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto Him, and He signified it by His 
angel unto His servant John.—Revelation 1:1. 

T HE doctrine referring to guardian angels is built upon foun¬ 
dations coming up from the beginning of the world, although 
not defined as of faith. The conviction has always been general 
that angels are the agents of Divine Providence. ‘ 6 The angels, ’ ’ 
says Origen, “preside over all visible things, earth, air, fire and 
water; that is, over the principal elements, the animals, the celes¬ 
tial bodies. Their ministries are divided.’* Nor is this the only 
patristic testimony. Even pagans support the idea, as Apuleius. 
“If it is not becoming for a King to govern all things by himself, 
much less would it be so for God. We must, then, believe that, 
in order to preserve His majesty, He is seated upon a sublime 
throne and rules over all parts of the universe by celestial powers, 
it is, in fact, by their ministry that He governs this lower world. ’ ’ 
They guard empires, each church and the universal church; they 
guard each one of us. St. Augustine calls them the “enlighten¬ 
ers of our souls, the protection of our bodies, the warden of 
our goods.” This dispensation is not the least among the ador¬ 
able rulings of God’s mercy to men. These friends of ours, closer 
and more intimate than any mortal companion can be, never leave 
our side. Some favored few among us of exceptional holiness 
have been permitted, either to see their guardian in material 
form, to realize his guiding by sensible touch, or to receive his 
advice through their sense of hearing. The fathers do not agree 
as to the extent of the protection of the angels to all men. Some 
think that each human being in existence has a guardian who 
never leaves him; others that only the just are so favored and 
only for the time that they persevere in justice. Sin seems to 
move them to a distance. St. Basil says: ‘ 1 The angels are always 
near each faithful soul, unless they are banished by evil actions . 99 

—M. 


In that great cloister’s stillness and seclusion, 

By guardian angels led, 

Safe from temptation, safe from sin’s pollution, 

She lives, whom we call dead. —Longfellow, 

— 434 — 


SUPERHUMAN JJEINGS. 


October 23. 


tne seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.—Revelation 1:20. 


LFORD regards “the angels of the seven churches’’ as super- 



^ human beings appointed to represent and guard the churches, 
and that upon the grounds: (1) that the word is used elsewhere 
in the book of Revelation only in this sense; and (2) that nothing 
in the book is addressed to a teacher individually, but all to some 
one who reflects the complexion and fortune of the church as no 
human person could. 

Do angels grieve over the evil deeds of those they guide? 
Strictly speaking, angels cannot grieve; for they are always in 
the possession of the Beatific Vision, and no sorrow can therefore 
come to them. In human conversation, however, we sometimes 
speak of them as afflicted with sadness and full of shame. But 
about the good acts of those they guide, there seems no reason to 
doubt their gratification. Our Blessed Lord says, “There is joy 
in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repent- 
eth;” and if the angels in heaven rejoice over a poor penitent’s 
act, much more the angel guardian of that penitent. 


—O’Kennedy. 


I once keard an angel by night in the sky, 

Sing softly a song to a deep golden lute; 

The pole star, the seven little planets, and I, 

To the song that he sung listened mute. 

For the song that he sung was so strange and so sweet, 
And so tender the tones of his lute ’s golden strings, 
That the seraphs of heaven sat hushed at his feet, 
And folded their hands in their wings. 

And the song that he sung to those seraphs up there, 

Is called . . . Love! 


—Owen Meredith. 


0 glittering host! 0 high angelic choir! 

Silence each tone that with thy music jars. 


—Richard Watson Gilder. 


- 425 - 


SACRED REMEMBRANCES. 


\ 

October 24. 


Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus, write:—Revelation 2:1. 

T EXTS of Scripture are often suddenly and mysteriously 
brought into the mind; there will enter into the spirit of a 
Christian, on whom has fallen some unexpected temptation, a 
passage of the Bible which is just as a weapon to foil his assail¬ 
ant. But let him ask himself whether he is not, on the other 
hand, often conscious of the intrusion into his soul of what is 
base and defiling. And we never scruple to give it as a matter 
of consolation to a Christian, that he may fully ascribe them to 
the agency of the devil. Now, it is expressly said of the devil 
that he is “the spirit that worketli in the children of disobedi¬ 
ence,’’ as though lie had not merely access to their minds, but 
took up his abode there, that he might carry on, as in a citadel, 
the war and the stratagem. And if evil angels have such power 
over the thoughts of men for evil, it seems unreasonable to 
question that good angels have as great influence over them for 
good; that they, too, work in the children of disobedience, and 
are mainly instrumental in calling up and marshaling those 
solemn processions of sacred remembrances which pass, with 
silent tread, through the chambers of the spirit, and leave on 
them the impress of their pureness and power. 

-H. Melville, D. D. 

In angel whiteness beat away those blushes; 

Of habits devil, is angel yet in this. 

— Shakespeare. 

Consideration like an angel came 

And whipped the offending Adam out of him. 

—Shakespeare. 


- 426 - 


“SANCTI ANGELI.” 

©ctooer 25. 

And unto the angel of the Church of Smyrna write.—Revelation 2:8. 

T HOUGH the primitive church, as Origen asserts, did not 
establish any definite doctrine on this subject, we nevertheless 
meet with several declarations respecting the nature of angels. 
Thus, many of the early Fathers rejected the notion that they 
took part in the work of creation, and maintained, on the contrary, 
that they are created beings and ministering spirits. In oppo¬ 
sition to the doctrine of emanation and of aeons, even bodies were 
ascribed to them, of finer substance, however, than human bodies. 
The idea of guardian angels was connected in part with the 
mythical notion of the genii. But no sure traces are to he found 
during this period, from the year 70 to the year 254, of a real 
cultus of angels within the pale of the Catholic Church. 

From the year 254—730 A. D.—the age of polemics—it began 
to be stated more and more sharply that the angels are creatures 
and not aeons emanating from the essence of God. Nevertheless, 
they were still regarded as highly endowed beings, far superior 
to mankind. Reverence was paid to them; but Ambrose was the 
only Father during this period—and he did it as a passing re¬ 
mark—who recommended the invocation cf angels. But both the 
prohibition of the worship of angels (angelolatry) by the Synod 
of Laodicea (450 A. D.) and the testimony of Theodoret, prove 
that such a worship must have been practiced in some parts of 
the East. Theodoret as well as Augustine opposed the adora¬ 
tion, or at least the invocation, of angels. Augustine calls the 
angels “sancti angeli.” —Hagenback. 

(See December 25.) 

In the midst of that dear city 
Christ is reigning on His seat, 

And the angels swing their censers 

In a ring about His feet. — S. Baring-Gould. 

An angel dropped a radiant flower 

Upon the earth. Startled and sore afraid, 

It crept between the pretty lips, 

And nestled in the fair throat of a maid. 

She coaxed it forth ere long to soothe 
A tired heart, or entertain a throng; 

And those who heard the glorious thing, 

Renamed it, and called it song. — M. Josephine Conger. 

- 427 - 


“TEE ACTS OF THE HOLY ANGELS." 


©ctober 26 . 

And to the angels of the Church in Pergamus, write.—Revelation 2:12. 

O CCASIONALLY a series of pictures called “The Acts ot 
the Holy Angels’’ has been painted. It consists of eleven 
strictly Scriptural subjects. I have already said that of the seven 
archangels to whom Milton refers when he says: 

“The seven 

Who in God's presence, nearest to His throne 
Stand ready at command," 

but three are recognized by the Christian Church; and when 
three archangels are seen together, they are Michael, Gabriel and 
Raphael. In the Greek Church this representation is regarded 
as typical of the military, civil and religious power; and, ac¬ 
cordingly, the costumes indicate a soldier, a prince and a priest. 
But Uriel has not been entirely ignored, even by the Christian 
Church, and an early tradition teaches that this archangel, and 
not Christ, accompanied the two disciples on their way to 
Emmaus. In the book of Esdras we read: “The angel that 
was sent unto me, whose name was Uriel.” His office was that 
of interpreter of judgments and prophecies, which Milton recog¬ 
nizes thus: 

“Uriel, for thou of those Seven Spirits that stand, 

In sight of God's high throne, gloriously bright, 

The first art wont his great authentic will 
Interpreter through highest heaven to bring." 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 

“Who like the Lord?" thunders Michael the Chief: 

Raphael, “the Care of God," comforteth grief: 

And as at Nazareth, Prophet of Peace, 

Gabriel “the Light of God," bringeth release. 

—J. M. Neale, D. D. 

Bearers of benison to men, ye come and go! 

Thou Raphael, healing of our God, and thou, 

The strength of God, blest Gabriel, chosen so 
To bear from God to men access of might, 

And Michael, thou art as God, whose brow 
Shines peerless, like a flaming fire of light! 

—Mrs. Merrill E. Gates. 

-428- 


THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS. 

■ ©ctober 27. 

And unto the angel of the Church in Thyatira, write.—Revelation 2:18. 

N OW I can conceive persons saying all this is fanciful; but if 
it appears so, it is only because we are not accustomed to 
such thoughts. Surely we are not told in Scripture about the 
angels for nothing, but for practical purposes; nor can I con¬ 
ceive a use of our knowledge more practical than to make it 
connect the sight of this world with the thought of another. Nor 
one more consolatory; for surely it is a great comfort to reflect 
that, wherever we go, we have those about us who are minister¬ 
ing to all the heirs of salvation, though we see them not. Nor 
one more easily to be understood and felt by all men; for we 
know that at one time the doctrine of angels was received even 
too readily, and if one would argue hence against it as dangerous, 
let him recollect the great principle of our church, that the abuse 
of a thing does not supersede the use of it, and let him explain, 
if he can, St. PauPs exhorting Timothy not only as before “God 
and Christ/’ but before “the elect angels’’ also. Hence in the 
Communion Service our church teaches us to join our praises 
with “that of angels and archangels, and all the company of 
heaven.” —Cardinal Newman. 

Hark, what means those holy voices 
Sweetly warbling in the skies? 

Sure the angelic host rejoices, 

Loudest hallelujahs rise. 

—John Cawood. 


How shall T scale those shining heights 
And in His beauty see the King, 

And hear the anthems of the skies, 

Those songs celestial voices sing? 

—Samuel Irenacus Prime. 

Songs of praise the angels sang, 

Heaven with hallelujahs rang, 

When Jehovah’s work begun, 

When He spoke and it was done. 

Songs of praise awoke the morn, 

When the Prince of Peace was born; 

Songs of praise arose, when He 
Captive led captivity. 

—James Montgomery. 


-429 - 


WATCHED WITH LOVING INTEREST. 


©ctobec 28. 

And unto the angel of the Church in Saodis, write.—Revelation 3:1. 

I CONFIDENTLY believe, therefore, that good and bad angels 
1 are ever hovering over this world of ours, and carrying on 
a stupendous struggle between truth and falsehood, holiness and 
sin, life and death; and that these two opposing legions, these 
unseen spiritual forces, operate in nature, though more often in 
Providence, and that much more of what happens to us than we 
believe is to be attributed to their influence and interposition. 
If this be so, it is not difficult to see what practical truths and 
teachings are bound up with the doctrine of angels: (1) Our 
belief in the resurrection and an existence succeeding it, which 
is conscious, recognizable and spiritual, is here confirmed and 
illustrated. (2) This doctrine gives the believer additional as¬ 
surance as to his safety and dignity in this life. (3) The proba¬ 
bility, nay, necessity, of two distinct abodes in the other world, 
is taught, and the nature and progress of holiness and sin 
strikingly delineated. (4) The work of the redeemed hereafter 
is incidentally intimated, and the joys of heavenly worship and 
service is revealed and emphasized. (5) Angelology forever 
differentiates saints from angels, and gives proof that man when 
redeemed and glorified will be not only distinct from, but supe¬ 
rior to, the heavenly host. —Rev. John Balcom Shaw, D. D. 

The other angels kept their station and this task, 

Whereon thou look’st, began, with such delight, 

That they surcease not ever, day or night, 

Their circling. Of that fatal lapse the cause , 

Was the curst pride of him, whom thou hast seen 

Pent with the world’s incumbrance. Those whom here 

Thou seest, were lowly to confess themselves 

Of his free bounty, who had made them apt 

For ministries so high; therefore their views 

Were, by enlightening grace and their own merit, 

Exalted; so that in their will confirmed 
They stand, nor fear to fall. 


— 430 — 


—Dante. 


THE VISION OF ST. JOHN 


©ctober 29. 


He that overcometh the same shall he clothed in white raiment; and I will not hlot 
out his name out of the hock of life, hut I will confess his name before my Father and 
before His angels.—Revelation 3:5, 


REFERENCE to the Apocalypse enables us to glance at a 



** far sublimer truth, and to explain the connection of the 
cherubim with the mercy-seat as a type not only of vengeance 
but of expiation and forgiveness. For in the vision of St. John 
these immortalities appear in the same choir with the redeemed 
innumerable multitude of the universal Church; no longer armed 
with flaming swords, but mingling with the elders and joining 
in the new song. And here, too, we find the recovered Eden, the 
water of life flowing freely, and the tree of life with no flame to 
hedge it around. In the cherubim of the last book of the Bible, 
we find the highest explanation of the cherubim in the first. The 
apparent wrath which excluded man from the forfeited paradise 
was but the mercy in disguise, which seemed for him its final 
fruition in a nobler form of life. And thus to give the last touch 
of meaning to this changeful symbol, we catch in it a gleam dim 
at first, but growing into steady brightness, of that exalted spir¬ 
itual body for which is reserved hereafter the Paradise of God. 


Kitto. 


Come let us join our cheerful songs 
With angels round the throne; 

Ten thousand thousand are their tongues 
But all their joys are one. 

“Worthy the Lamb that died,” they cry, 
“To be exalted thus!” 

“Worthy the Lamb!” our hearts reply, 
“For He was slain for us!” 


—Isaac Watts. 


-431- 


HOW ANGELS ARE LOOKED UPON. 


©ctober 30. 

And unto the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, write.—Revelation 3:7. 

TN THE Church's history during the period (1517-1720) Prot- 
1 estants as well as Roman Catholics continued to rest their faith 
in the real existence both of angels and demons, on the authority 
of Scripture, and to believe in the power of the devil as something 
which still manifests itself in the life of men. There was only 
this difference between Protestants and Roman Catholics—that 
the latter added the invocation of the angels. The Protestants 
did not allow this, although they believed that the angels inter¬ 
ceded for us. Luther also believed in guardian angels, but 
without making it a dogma. —Fisher. 

From the year 1720 to the present day, the belief in the 
existence and agency of angels had become strange to the prosaic 
age; and supernaturalists themselves, who, on the authority of 
Scripture, continued to believe in their existence, knew not what 
to do with them. On the other hand, the enthusiast Swedenborg 
looked only the more boldly into the angelic world. The doctrine 
respecting angels has also again come to honor among the latest 
writers on systematic theology, by some considered either in a 
philosophic and idolizing sense, by others simply referred to the 
statements of Scripture. —Hagenbach. 


Oh! couldst thou add one brilliant page, and tell 
What those pure beings are that never fell, 

Those first-born sons of God, ere time began; 

Though elder, greater, not more loved than man; 
Thrones, principalities, dominions, powers, 

Cherub or seraph, midst empyreal bowers, 

Who in themselves their Maker only see, 

And live and move, and dwell in Deity;— 

But ’tis forbidden;—earthly eye nor ear 

Heaven’s splendors may behold, heaven’s secrets hear; 

To flesh and blood that world to come is sealed, 

Or but in hieroglyphic shades revealed. 


(! i 


-432- 


—Montgomery. 


tr~ 



Anderson 

AN ANGEL MUSICIAN 

(See page 446) 
















By Courtesy of “The Interior” 

THE ANGEL TRUMPETER 


(See page 451) 





































’TIS EVER GOLDEN SUMMER 


©ctobec 31. 


And to the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans, write—Revelation 3:14. 



ANY of the fathers call the angels spirits and spiritual 


l V 1 beings, but in the same sense as we call the wind, odors, 
spiritual. Others have asserted that angels are purely spiritual ; 
and this is the common opinion. John addressed letters to the 
angels of the seven Christian churches in Asia Minor; meaning, 
in the judgment of many fathers, not the bishops of those 
churches, but angels who were appointed by God for their pro¬ 
tection. But, as the learned Prideaux observes, the minister of 
the synagogue, being the mouth of the congregation, delegated by 
them as their representative, messenger or angel to address God 
in prayer for them, was in Hebrew called Sheliach-Zibbor, i. e., 
the angel of the church, and that hence the bishops of the seven 
churches of Asia are in the Revelation, by a name borrowed from 
the synagogue, called angels of those churches. 


—Edward Robinson, D. I). 


Angels came to me while sleeping, 
Angels came to me last night, 

Round my bed their still watch keeping 
In the glow of silver light; 

Speaking in a soft-toned murmur, 

Of a land so pure and bright, 

Where 'tis ever golden summer,— 

Will they come again tonight? 


—Frank Howard. 


I am strong in the spirit—deep-thoughted, clear-eyed 
I could walk step for step, with an angel beside, 


On the heaven-heights of truth. 


—Mrs. Browning. 


- 433 - 





























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♦ 















\ 





































BOOK XI. 


IMo member. 
































/ 














November 


MARVELOUS THEIR POWER. 


IRovember l 


And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open 
the hook and to loose the seals thereof?—Revelation 5:2. 



HE power of angels must be very great as compared with 


1 that of men (Ps. 103:20, 2 Peter 2:11, 2 Thess. 1:7, Gen. 
10:9, Isa. 9:5); the terms refer properly to strength or power— 
mighty in power or strong in might. The superiority of angels 
denotes power, in the proper sense of the word. Angels are 
described as 4 ‘ the angels of His might, ’ ’ meaning those by whom 
the power of the Lord Jesus will be wielded, or at least fitly 
represented, at His appearing. The texts to be compared illus¬ 
trate the use of the principal Hebrew term applied to angels in 
Ps. 103:20. To these statements may be added the fact that God 
is often called “Jehovah of Hosts’’ because the angels, as a great 
army, do His bidding; and from the way in which this designa¬ 
tion is applied, we naturally infer that the soldiers of the heavenly 
host are mighty and glorious, answering in some slight degree, 
and far better than any earthly beings, to the greatness of God. 
Yet the power of angels is strictly finite, and therefore as nothing 
in comparison with that of God. They are always described as 
subject to God or to Christ. — Hovey. 


It is said, somewhere at twilight, 

A great bell softly swings, 

And we may listen and harken 
To the wondrons music that rings. 

If we put from our hearts ’ inner chamber 
All the passion and pain and strife, 


437 - 



438 


RING FOR YOU AND ME. 


Heart-ache and weary longing 
That throb in the pulses of life. 

If we thrust from our souls all hatred 
All thoughts of wicked things, 

We can hear in the holy twilight 
How the bell of the angel rings. 

Let us look in our hearts and question 
Can purer thoughts enter in 
To a soul, if it be already 

The dwelling of thoughts of sin? 

So then, let us ponder a little, 

Let us look in our hearts and see 
If the twilight bell of the angels 
Can ring for you and me. 


—Beardsley Van de Water. 


MINISTRATIONS AT DEATH. 


flovember 2. 

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels, round about the throne; and the 
number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. 

—Revelation 5:11. 

P RODIGALITY is a characteristic of all the Divine works. 

We cannot meditate on the countless multitudes of the angels 
without astonishment. So vast a populace, of such surpassing 
beauty, of such gigantic intelligence, of such diversified nature, 
is simply overwhelming to our most ambitious thoughts. A 
locust swarm, and each locust an archangel; the myriads of 
points of life disclosed to us by the microscope, and each point 
a grand spirit; the sands of the seas and the waters of the ocean, 
and each grain and each drop a beautiful being, the brightness 
of whose substance we could not see and live; this is but an 
approximation to the reality—so theologians teach us. 

—Faber. 

Nor do they at death desert us. As celestial angels ministered 
to the wants of the soul in infancy, so now they are present when 
the first cycle of life is completed, to assist in our resurrection 
to the fulness of life in the spiritual world. When all vital 
connection between the body and the man himself has ceased, he 
passes into a deep, unconscious sleep. The angels are around 
him to guard him from the approach of every disturbing influence, 
and gradually, by soft and gentle attractions, they withdraw him 
from his material covering and raise him up and minister to 
every want. Now they teach the nature of the new world into 
which he has openly and consciously entered, giving him every 
attention and kindness, and in manifold ways preparing him for 
his eternal home. —Rev. Chauncey Giles. 

Low warblings now, and solitary harps 
Were heard among the angels, touched and turned 
As to an evening hymn, preluding soft 
To cherub voices. 

—Jas. A. Hillhouse. 


- 439 - 


FROM FIRST TO LAST. 


Bovcmber 3. 

And the angels said with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. 

—Revelation 5:12. 

T HE angels of God! What do we know about them? We 
often think, speak and hear of them; of their ranks and 
orders, their numbers and ministries, their wonderful powers and 
their rapturous songs. Nor can we wonder at this; for when 
we open the pages of the Word of God, we behold their bright 
forms, or their outspread wings, or their chariots and horses of 
fire; and we read of their power to protect God’s chosen people 
when they are persecuted or endangered, or to inflict vengeance 
upon their enemies. Our first vision of them is at the gateway 
of Paradise, when, with the flaming sword, they kept “the way 
of the tree of life;” and our last, in Revelation, is when we behold 
them in the apocalyptic vision, in uncounted multitudes, uttering 
their everlasting songs of joy. And when we think that these 
holy beings, with all their vast powers and superior intelligence, 
are interested in our race, we learn to love them, although we have 
never yet seen the brightness of their form nor the beauty of 
their face. Often we have sung in the sanctuary with the as¬ 
sembled multitudes until we have fancied that we have heard 
their songs and the rustle of their wings. —Dunn. 

Angels now are hovering round us, 

Unperceived amid the throng; 

Wondering at the love that crowned us, 

Glad to join the holy song. —Anonymous. 

He passed the flaming bounds of place and time: 

The living throne, the sapphire blaze, 

Whose angels tremble while they gaze. —Gray. 

Some angel waits 

The word that swings the morning’s radiant gates. 

—F. L. Stanton. 


For when the morning gates 
Swing back in silver glory, 

This angel never waits 

To hear our drowsy story, 

Whether the morrow comes again 
In splendid rapture or in pain. 

—Geo, W. Terrel, 

— 440 — 


ANGELIC GARMENTS. 


IHovembec 4. 


And after this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding 
the four winds of the earth.—Revelation 7:1. 

* * A NGEL 77 is a transcription of the Greek “angelos , 77 a mes- 
** senger, but in signification corresponds to the special 
theological sense which the later word assumed among the Hellen- 
estic Jews (and hence in the New Testament and in Christian 
writings), by being adapted as the translation of the Hebrew 
“Malak. 77 Thus both name and notion of angel go back to the 
Old Testament. In the Old Testament belief in angels has two 
sides; being on the one hand a particular development of the 
belief in special manifestations of God to man; and on the other 
hand, a belief in the existence of superhuman beings standing in 
a particular relation of nearness to God. These two sides of the 
doctrine are historically associated and co-operate in the later 
developments of Biblical angelology, but are not in all parts of 
the Old Testament fused into perfect unity of thought. The first 
side of the belief in angels is expressed in the word “Malak,” a 
messenger or ambassador. The whole Old Testament revelation 
moves in the paradox that God is invisible and inaccessible to 
man, and yet approaches man in unmistakable manifestation— 
in the priestly oracle, in prophecy and by His 4 ‘ messenger . 7 7 In 
special crises the angel calls to Hagar. 

—Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Among Thy saints let me be found 
Whene’er th’ archangel’s trump shall sound, 

To see Thy smiling face. 

—Lady Huntingdon. 

And hark! I hear a singing; yet in sooth 
I cannot of that music rightly say 
Whether I hear, or touch, or taste the tones. 

Oh, what a heart-subduing melody! 

My work is done, 

My task is o’er, 

And so I come 

—J. H. Newman. 

- 441 - 


ROLL OF GOLDEN NOTES. 


iRovember 5. 

And I saw another angel ascending from the East, having the seal of the living God; 
and he cried with a loud voice to the angels to whom it was given to hunt the earth and 
the sea.—Revelation 7:2. 

1 AM not aware whether amidst the mass of legendary fiction 
pertaining to the first ages of Christianity, there are any 
sufficiently attested instances of apparitions of angelic messen¬ 
gers after, the time of the apostles. It is possible there may have 
been, to confirm the faith and strengthen the testimony of the first 
converts, and establish the now exclusive authority of the written 
Word. —Caroline Fry. 

“Good-bye, papa! Good-bye, mamma!” said a sweet eiglit- 
year-old, dying in Baltimore. “The angels have come to carry 
me to heaven! ’ ’ And sure enough, in a few minutes the heavenly 
convoy were bearing the freed spirit upwards to the skies. The 
angels undoubtedly wander away from the throne of God to this 
worldly sphere to watch over the soul welfare of those they have 
left behind. It may be that some angels are hovering over , the 
souls here tonight, to see if some one will decide in favor of the 
Lord’s side. —Moody. 


Angels, contented with their fame in heaven, 

Seek not the praise of men. 

—Milton. 


Still the angel stars are shining, 

Still the rippling waters flow, 

But the angel voice is silent 
That I heard so long ago. 

Hark! the echoes murmur low, 

Long ago! 

—Adelaide A. Proctor. 


The room was full of angels, 

And she wondered we could not see, 

That we could not see their shining wings 
As they floated noiselessly 
Around the bed. 

- 442 - 



BEARING THE SOUL TO HEAVEN. 443 

The room was full of music 
Beautiful music—she said, 

And she wondered we could not hear 
How the holy strains w T ere stealing, 

How the happy songs were pealing, 

All through the hush and gloom 
Of the silent room— 

And just before the dawning, 

When the darkness of night was o’er, 

And the night of her suffering life 
Was ended for evermore, 

In the grey of Ascension morn 
The angels come again, 

And tenderly they bore her 
For whom they had waited long,— 

Watched and waited in- heaven, 

Knowing that even here 

She was learning their blessed song. 

So in the grey of morning 
They bore her soul away 
Beyond the prison bars, 

Beyond the fading stars 
To the brightness of the day. 

—M. E. Townsend. 






WITH SOLEMN ADORATION. 


iRovembec 6. 

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and fell before the throne on their 
faces, and worshipped God.—Revelation 7:11. 

A NGELS are not to be worshiped, for the following reasons: 

1. God alone is to be worshiped (Matt. 4:10). 2. Scripture 
expressly condemns angel worship (Col. 2:18). 3. No such wor¬ 

ship was practiced by prophets or apostles. 4. It is inconsistent 
with their nature as creatures and servants. 5. The angel who 
appeared to John expressly refused the ascription of Divine 
honor. — H. Venema. 

According to the Latin fathers, angels were divided into three 
general and nine special classes. The first clear sanction of the 
invocation of angels as intercessors is in Ambrose. In the sixth 
century churches were dedicated by Justinian in Gaul to the 
Archangel Michael. As the homage of angels spread, the Scrip¬ 
tural prohibitions of the worship of the creature were avoided 
or evaded by distinctions in the kind and degree of worship 
which is offered to different kinds and degrees of supernatural 
beings. —George Park Fisher, D. D. 

No sooner had the Almighty ceased, but all 

The multitude of angels, with a shout 

Loud as from numbers without number, sweet 

As from blest voices, uttering joy,—heaven rung 

The eternal regions: lowly reverent 

Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground 

With solemn adoration down they cast 

Their crowns inwove with amaranth and gold; 

Immortal amaranth, a flower which once 
In Paradise, fast by the Tree of Life, 

Began to bloom; 

Then, crowned again, their golden harps they took, 

Harps ever tuned, that glittering by their side 
Like quivers hung, and with preamble sweet, 

Of charming symphony, they introduce 
Their sacred song, and waken rapture high; 

No voice exempt, no voice but well could join 
Melodious part,—such concord is in heaven. 


— 444 — 


Milton. 


GARLAND HIM WITH LOVE. 


IRovember 7. 

The angels saying Amen: Blessing and glory and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and 
honour, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever.—Revelation 7:12. 

I N A time of sickness I was brought so near the gates of death 
that I forgot my name. In this state I remained seven hours. 
I then heard a soft, melodious voice, more pure and harmonious 
than any I had heard with my ears before. I believed it was the 
voice of an angel who spoke to the other angels; the words were, 
“ John Woolman is dead!” I greatly wondered what the heav¬ 
enly voice could mean. I believed beyond doubting that it was 
the voice of a holy angel, but as yet it was a mystery to me. 
Then the mystery was opened, and I perceived there was joy in 
heaven over a sinner who prays and repents. 

—John Woolman. 

It is so delightful dying—it is so pleasant, so beautiful—the 
angels are here—God lifts me up in His arms. I cannot see the 
river of death—there is no river—it is all light—I am floating 
away from earth to heaven—I am gliding away unto God. 

—Bishop Haven. 


Forever with the angelic host, 

Sing Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

—Persian Breviary. 

0 Angel of all Innocents, your viol make more sweet, 

0 Angel of all Lovers, touch tenderly your lute, 

0 Angel of all Heroes, your rapturous tabor beat, 

0 Angel of all Triumph, sound your timbrel ’s swift pursuit. 

—Elizabeth P. Spofford. 


- 445 - 


THE MUSIC OF CELESTIAL BELLS. 


IRovember 8. 

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven 
trumpets.—Revelation 8:2. 

T HE angels are living creatures, no less than men. The latter 
are mortal; the former, immortal. — Theodoret. 

There is a beautiful legend of the sweet-toned bell of the 
angels in heaven which softly rings at twilight. Its notes make 
a music supremely entrancing. But none can hear it save those 
only whose hearts are free from passion and clear of unlovingness 
and all sin. This is only a legend. But there is a sweeter music 
which the lowliest may hear. Those who live the gentle life of 
patient, thoughtful, selfless love make a music whose strains are 
enrapturing. — J. R. Miller, D. D. 


Throughout the heavenly dells 
There softly sinks and swells 
The rhyming and the chiming 
Of fair celestial bells; 

Blending with angelic mines 
Their symphonetic chimes 
And roll of golden notes, 

Which through the ether calmly floats. 

******* 

Their soft, sweet music swells 
’Mid heavenly hills and dells, 

All gently flowing and golden going 
From the celestial bells 
As sextons of eternity ring; 

And angels their hosannas sing, 

With an immortal strain, 

On the high and holy plain. 

******* 

Oh, let the angels sing! 

And let the bliss of heaven ring 
To the rhyme of the golden chime 
Of those celestial bells; 

Oh, let the music flowing 
Through the soul be going! 

For ’twill purer be 

From the heavenly ministrelsy. 

******* 

—John Preston Campbell. 

- 446 - 


BY IMPERIAL SUMMONS. 


Bovember 9. 

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there 
was given him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints. 

—Revelation 8:3. 

T HE Scriptures thus seem to intimate that there is a gradation 
of rank among the angels. But further they do not go. 
They afford not the slightest hint by which we can determine 
how many ranks there are, and their relations to each other. Our 
Jewish book speaks of “ seven holy angels which present the 
prayers of saints, and which go in and out before the glory of 
the Holy One.” Another mentions “four great archangels, 
Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel, who perpetually bring re¬ 
port to the Creator of the corrupt state of the world, and receive 
from Him their respective commissions.” The rabbinical writers 
descend into still further details; specify the exact position of 
those superior angels in the presence of God; tell how Gabriel 
attended at the nuptials of Adam and Eve; how he taught Joseph 
the seventy languages of the world, etc. Some held to seven 
heavens, each with its own order of angels. Romanists divide 
angels into three great classes, and with some minuteness draw 
out a scheme of their government and subordination to each 
other, in order thereupon to' build their superstructure of the 
government in the Church. Milton, in his “Paradise Lost,” uses 
his poetical license in this as in other respects; and, drawing upon 
his immense stores of rabbinical and scholastic learning, speaks 
of seven archangels: 

Who in God’s presence, nearest to His throne, 

Stand ready at command and are His eyes 
That run through all the heavens, or down to earth 
Bear His swift errands, over moist and dry, 

O’er sea and land. 


And: 

Angels by imperial summons called 
Forthwith from all the ends of heaven appeared, 

Under their hierarchs in orders bright. 

—Robert M. Patterson, D. D. 

- 447 - 


ANGELIC LOSE. 


November 10. 

And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of saints, ascended up 
before God out of the angel’s hand.—Revelation 8:4. 

T HE rank and authority of these spirits have been strangely 
though variously defined. According to the book of Enoch 
and the Jerusalem Targum, there are six groups of various dig¬ 
nity; according to Philo, seven. Dionysius, the Areopagite, 
counts nine, and the scholars of the Middle Ages accept his nu¬ 
meration. They fall into three groups with three in each: 

Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones. 

Dominions, Virtues, Powers. 

Princedoms, Archangels, Angels. 

The Rabbinical Theosophy is more explicit. There are seven 
archangels—Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Chanruel, Jopheil 
and Zadkiel—of whom the four first and greatest sustain the 
throne of God. These four also preside over the four elements, 
and are the solemn ministers of God. Michael is prime minister, 
presiding over worship; Raphael, minister of health; Gabriel, 
of war; and Uriel, of justice. Of these, Michael and Gabriel 
are mentioned in the Bible; Raphael and Uriel in the Apocrypha. 
The order and mode of government of an earthly kingdom was 
thus transferred to heaven; so that we are not surprised to find 
the four-and-twenty angels forming a senate or awful inner and 
secret council, and, like the four-and-twenty orders of the Jewish 
priests, each having his period of special service. Some preside 
over kingdoms, some over planets, like 

“The Angel of the Earth who, while he guides 
His chariot planet round the goal of day, 

All trembling, gazes on the eye of God.” 

Elihu was an angel, and afterwards in Alexandria they said that 
it was an angel that was the star that led the Magi. The resi¬ 
dence of these and of all angels is in ilie stars, and thus the 
Plurality of Worlds is set at rest. For their knowledge, it is 

- 448 - 





MICHAEL OVERPOWERING SATAN 

(See page 478) 


Guido Reni 














Bouguerean 


INNOCENCE 




PLIGHT OF ST. CATHARINE 

(See page 454) 


Miiche- 














PEOPLED BY ANGELS. 


449 


commonly restricted, though one divine of the sixteenth century 
affirms there are hut three things of which they are ignorant— 
the day of the Second Advent, men’s hearts, and the number of 
the elect; and another declares them to he “good philosophers, 
great statists, and knowing the affairs of kingdoms . . . wise 

and very knowing, always lusty and lively. ’ ’ 

—W. Fleming Stevenson. 

Some write that over every heaven and sphere 
Are several angels placed and governs there. 

The sophist those Intelligences call: 

The Hebrews cherubim; whose lot thus fall; 

Metraton doth the Primum Mobile guide; 

Ophaniel, in the starry heaven reside; 

The sun’s sphere, Varean: the moon’s lower ray 
Arean disposeth: Mars (his) Satan sways. 

Mercury’s, Madan; Jove’s Guth: Venus star 
Jurabates; and Saturn’s seen from far; 

Maion. And all these in the height they enjoy, 

Have power inferior spirits to employ. 

—Clayton’s Angelology. 


GOD’S SUPERNATURAL AGENTS. 


IRovember ll. 

And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into 
the earth.—Revelation 8:5. 

M ICHAEL, who is like God, the first of the chief princes or 
archangels, is described in the books of Daniel and Jude. 
The passages in the Old Testament belong to that late period of 
its revelation when to the general declaration of the angelic office 
was added the division of that office into parts, and the assign¬ 
ment of them to individual angels. This assignment served not 
only to give that vividness to man’s faith in God’s supernatural 
agents which was so much needed at a time of the captivity, 
during the abeyance of His local manifestations and regular agen¬ 
cies, but also to mark the finite and ministerial nature of the 
angels, lest they should he worshiped in themselves. Accord¬ 
ingly, as Gabriel represents the ministrations of the angels 
towards man, so Michael is the type and leader of their strife, in 
God’s name and His strength, against the power of Satan. In 
the Old Testament, therefore, he is the guardian of the Jewish 
people in their antagonism to godless power and heathenism. 

—Dr. William Smith. 

We are sent down to be a spectacle to men and to angels, and 
the eyes of the Heavenly hosts are upon us. 

— Canon Scott Holland. 

Angels—their ministry and meed, 

Which to and fro with blessings speed, 
t Or with citherns wait, 

Where Michael with his millions bows. 

—Christopher Smart. 


— 450 — 


ANGEL CHOIRS ABOVE. 


movember 12. 


And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 

—Revelation 8:6. 



E KNOW that angels minister to the heirs of salvation. 


V V Who can doubt that they love them while caring for them ? 
If contact may be supposed to express sympathy between natures 
so diverse, much more should it breed sympathy between indi¬ 
viduals of one race. In angels towards men, sympathy seems an 
extra and gratuitous grace; in men towards one another, it is 
an essential grace. Let us not abandon sympathy to the angels. 
An unsympathetic angel would be a devil. —Rossetti. 

The good angels are wiser and know more than the evil angels. 
The reason? They have a mirror wherein they look and learn— 
“the face of the Father.’’ They are alone much mightier, for 
they stand before Him whose name is Almighty. —Luther. 

Though a member of this world, thou hast but to kneel in 
prayer and thou art at once in the society of saints and angels. 
Wherever thou art, thou canst, through God’s mercy, in a moment 
bring thyself into the midst of His holy Church invisible, and 
receive secretly that aid the very thought of which is a present 
sensible blessing. Art thou lonely? Does the day run heavily? 
Fall on thy knees and thou art at once relieved by the reality of 
thy unseen companions. Art thou tempted to sin? Fix at once 
your eyes upon those pure and shining angel guardians yonder 
in God’s secret dwelling-place. —Newman. 


Keep clean, bear fruit, earn life and watch 


Till the white-winged reapers come. —H. 


—H. Vaughan. 


An angel’s wing would droop if long at rest, 
And God Himself inactive were no longer blest. 


—Wheeler Wilcox. 


Child of my throes, where’er I set thee stand, 
No self-sought danger earns my angel’s hand. 


—Morgan. 


The saints in glory their companion own; 
Angels, who long have had him in their care, 
Bore him to heaven and bid him welcome there. 


—Joseph Grigg. 


— 451 —- 


INTERESTED SPECTATORS. 


November 13. 

The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they 
were cast upon the earth.—Revelation 8:7. 

A BELIEF in the existence of angels and demons—that is, of 
two intermediate orders of spiritual intelligences—on the 
one hand between the Supreme Highest and man, and on the 
other between man and the Evil One, distinctly termed, in the 
two phases, angelology and demonology, is by no means peculiar 
to the Jewish or Christian religions; it has been inherent in the 
minds of every nation from the birth of human intellect. It is 
enwrought with countless modifications in the Egyptian, Roman, 
Grecian, Brahminical, Persian, Mohammedan and all the other 
false systems of theosophy. Of the origin of the first-born sons 
of God, or the purpose or data of their creation, nothing is re¬ 
vealed to us. Whether they were the inhabitants of bygone 
worlds, which, long antecedent to the birth of our earth, had 
completed their destined orbit and been resolved into rudimental 
chaos; or whether, myriads of ages back into eternity, ere the 
chronometer of time had been set in motion, or the revolving 
spheres had sounded the keynote of their celestial hymn, the 
All-Wise had created them to be the attendants of His own illus¬ 
trious state, the recipients of His bounty and love, and the 
executants of His decrees, are secrets no better known to the 
wisest savant than to the simplest student of revelation. Origen, 
Bede and various other reverend fathers of the early Christian 
Church maintain that the creation of angels was coeval with that 
of the heaven and earth. Others of equal authority conjecture 
that they are intended by the term light, created on the first day; 
that at the fiat of God, “Let there be light!” this glorious order 
of creatures sprang at once into vigorous existence. Some He¬ 
brew writers suppose them to have been created on the first day, 
others on the fifth. To none of these theories, however, do the 
verses succeeding the third of the first chapter of Genesis afford 
sufficient support; and also conflicting with them are those of as 
wise and more experienced commentators, who contend for the 
high antiquity of angels, and aver that their birth was long 

-452- 


A SONG OF THE CREATION. 


453 


previous to the creation of this terrestrial sphere. That this 
latter assumption is grounded upon Scripture, distinct proof is 
given by the Lord Himself, in the hook of Job, when, out of the 
whirlwind, He demanded of the patriarch where was he ‘ 4 when 
the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted 
for joy.” This passage implies that the angels were interested 
spectators of the quickening into turning life of this bright world 
of ours. —Edward I. Sears, A. M. 

Listen to the shouts of angels, 

Saying, “Lift your heads, ye portals!” 

He who in the Isle of Patmos 
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, 

Heard unnumbered angel voices 
Mingling in a joyous paean, 

Tells us of the swelling chorus 
Sung by blood-washed sinners saying: 

“Glorj to the Lamb forever!” 

—Geo. W. Dunn. 


In my heart 

He puts a better mind, and showed me how, 

While we discern it not, and least believe, 

On stairs invisible betwixt His heaven 
And our unholy, sinful, toilsome earth 
Celestial messengers of loftiest good 
Upward and downward pass continually. 

—A. H. Clough. 


1 


/ 


t 


“AN HEIR OF GOD.” 


Wovember 14. 


And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain turning with Are and 
oast into the sea.—Revelation 8:8. 

1 AM pillowed upon a sick and dying bed with a little tablet 
in my bands. I am happy. I am expecting every hour that 
a group of living angels will come and say to me, ‘ 1 Brother, God 
has sent us to convey you to heaven; the chariot is waiting. ’ ’ I 
shall be the congenial companion with the angels in that most 
wonderful of all conceivable journeys from earth to heaven. 1 
have several times taken the tour of Europe, and there was great 
joy in seeing the wonders of the Old World, and there were 
sorrows too; but when the angelic summons comes, I shall be 
an “heir of God.” He will provide the chariot and will meet 
all the expenses. The escort will be glorious, angels loving me 
with a brother’s love; and God will have made me worthy of 
their love. We shall pass, as Herschel calls them, other universes 
of unimaginable splendor, and then we shall enter heaven. All 
its glories will burst upon our enraptured view. Angels and 
archangels, cherubim and seraphim will gather around us with 
their congratulations. All this, I believe, my dear friends, as 
fully as I believe in my own existence. 

—Letter written by Bev. J. S. Abbot to J. Dewitt Miller. 


Our souls are rising on the wing 
To venture in his place; 

For when grim Death has lost his sting, 
He has an angel’s face. 

Oh! if my threat ’ning sins were gone, 
And Death had lost his sting, 

I eould invite the angels on, 

And chide the lazy wing. 

Away these interposing days, 

And let the lovers meet; 

The Angel has a cold embrace, 

But kind, and soft and sweet. 


-454- 


—Watts. 


AN ANGEL’S BLUSH. 


November 15. 


And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven.-—Revelation 8:10. 

T HE accusing spirit, which flew up to heaven’s chancery with 
the oath, blushed as he gave it in; and the recording angel 
as he wrote it down dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it 
out forever. —Lawrence Stem. 


There is now a legion of shining ones jusrt come to town, by 
which we know that there are more pilgrims upon the road; for 
here they come to wait for them, and to comfort them after all 
their sorrow! Then the pilgrims got up and walked to and fro. 
But how were their ears now filled with heavenly harpings, and 
their eyes delighted with celestial visions. . . . Now upon 

the bank of the river, on the other side, they saw the two shining 
men again, who there waited for them. Wherefore being come 
out of the river, they saluted them, saying, “We are ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister for those that shall be heirs of 
salvation.” Thus they went along towards the gate. Now you 
must note that the city stood upon a mighty hill; but the pilgrims 
went up that hill with ease, because they had these two men to 
lead them up by the arms. They therefore went up through the 
regions of the air, sweetly talking as they went, being comforted 
because they safely got over the river and had such glorious 
companions to attend them. The talk they had with the shining 
ones was about the glory of the place, who told them that the 
beauty and glory of it was inexpressible. “There,” said they, 
“is the Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable 
company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. 
There you shall enjoy your friends again that have gone thither.” 

—Bunyan. 


Angel voices sweetly singing 
Echoes through the blue dome ringing 
News of wondrous gladness bringing: 
Ah! His heaven! His heaven at last! 


Softest voices, silver pealing 
Freshest fragrance, spirit healing, 

Happy hymns around us stealing; 

All! His heaven! His heaven at last! 

—Horatius Boaar. 


— 455 


GLORIOUS MOVING PERSONALITIES. 


IRovember 16 


And the fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was smitten.—Revelation 8:12. 


HE good Lord forgive me for that, amongst my other offenses, 



1 I have suffered myself so much to forget as His Divine 
presence, so the presence of the holy angels. It is, I confess, 
Iny great sin that I have filled mine eyes with other objects; 1 
have been slack in returning praises to my God for the continual 
assistance of those blessed and beneficent spirits which have ever 
graciously attended, without intermission, from the first hour of 
my existence to this present moment; neither shall ever, I hope, 
absent themselves from my tutelage and protection till they have 
presented to my poor soul her final glory. Oh, that the dust and 
clay were so worked out of my eyes that I might behold, together 
with the presence, the numbers, the beauties and the excellencies 
of those my ever-present angel guardians. —Bishop Hall. 


Sweet infant, beautiful as light, 

That on the snow-drop’s bosom glows, 
When ’scaped from wrathful winter’s night, 
It trembles through incumbrant snows— 
Amid thy cradle sleep, we watch 

The varying thought that faintly gleams, 
As though we fondly hope to catch 
The angel whisper of thy dreams. 

The angel whisper! Tell us what 
Is breathed from that celestial clime, 

Thou, nearer to its white-winged host 
Than we, who tread the thorns of time: 
Thou canst not tell—no words are thine— 
But the pure smile that lights thy brow 
Is sure the language of the skies— 

Oh! keep it still unchanged as now. 


—Lydia H. Sigourney. 


- 456 - 


FEATHERS FROM ANGEL-WINGS. 


Bovember 17. 


And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a 
loud voice: Woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the 
trumpet of the three angels which are yet sound!—Revelation 8:13. 

T O RECONCILE the most romantic poignant ideal of the heart 
with the severest practicality of thought and decision in its 
expression is one of the everlasting problems of art—and we may 
say of life. Every one remembers the touching sentiment with 
which as a child he contemplated some nursery picture of an 
angel, with outspread wings and a child in its arms, floating over 
the city; or perhaps an engraving of Gustave Dore’s “Colis- 
seum,” with the lions prowling around the corpses below, and 
angelic beings floating above, or at the Public Gallery some celes¬ 
tial vision of Fra Angelico’s. We were taken to the National Gal¬ 
lery, and there was Perugino’s 4 ‘Triptych,” beautiful, with a Vir¬ 
gin and Child in the center, and the Archangel Michael, so strong 
and handsome, on the one side, and the Archangel Raphael on 
the other. And as we marveled at the god-like figure clad in 
mail, we saw its beautiful wings spread behind it. 

—Edward Carpenter. 


And white-winged angels nurture her; 

With heaven’s white radiance robed and crowned, 

And all love’s purple glory round, 

She summers on the hills of myrrh. 

—Gerald Massey. 

An angel hand had drawn that Form Divine, 

While o’er the Face a radiant light did shine. 

—Legend of S. Cenacolo. 


- 457 - 


A PEEP WITHIN THE GATES. 


November 18. 

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and 
to him was given the hey of the bottomless pit.—Revelation 9:1. 

W E READ also of evil angels, the ministers of God’s wrath; 

as the destroying angel, the angel of death, the angel of 
Satan, the angel of the bottomless pit, and the fallen angels, or 
those who kept not their first estate, but fell from their obedience 
into sin, and were expelled the regions of light. In general, good 
and bad angels are distinguished by the opposite terms of angels 
of light and angels of darkness. —Zell’s Encyclopedia. 

An angel occupies a high position near the throne of God. 
“Are they not all ministering spirits?” We have evidence in 
Scripture that they are called on grand occasions to discharge 
high commissions for the King of Kings. And yet these courtiers, 
these household messengers of the palace of heaven, these domes¬ 
tics of glory, even these went astray and fell, and turned to 
devils. Angels fell; why may not man? The angels did not 
merely sin and lose heaven, but they passed by all other beings 
in sin, and made themselves fit denizens of hell. When Christ 
was describing the most wicked of men, He said that he was a 
devil. 4 ‘ One of you is a devil, ’ was His expression; for a devil 
is the wickedest form of existence. Row is it not singular that 
after being in heaven it remained possible for an angel to become 
so dreadful a being as a devil in the “bottomless pit” now is? 
The devils had gone into open war with God; the same beings 
that once bowed before His awful majesty are now openly and 
defiantly at war with the God that made them. They once could 
sing their chorals with delight, and day without night circle the 
throne of God rejoicingly; but now they blaspheme and rage and 
rave against all that is good in earth or heaven. 

—Spurgeon. 

Swift from the golden gates they come and go, 

And glad fulfil their Master’s high behest, 

Bringing celestial balms for human woe, 

Blessing and being blessed. 

-45S- 


DOMESTICS OF GLORY. 


Bovember 19. 

And the fifth angel opened the bottomless pit.—Revelation 9:2. 

THE beginning God created heaven and earth.’’ That 
i boundless Jove, ever springing from the nature of the 
Father, found no created living to rival in the beauty of it; to 
thank Him for the beauty of it; no responsive spirit to bow in 
adoration. But God said, “Be light made.” Whence was it? 
Did it emanate from the face of the Triune God? Or was it a 
radiance from the wings of those ethereal beings to whom that 
word, gifted with twofold power over the material and the intel¬ 
lectual, was the Word of Life? Endowed with a wisdom and a 
knowdedge of which the finite mind of man cannot conceive, the 
angels understood the scheme of the Creator, and that it included 
a being gifted with an intelligence only a little lower than their 
own, whose place in heaven should be nearer the throne than 
theirs, won by the sacrifice of God to God; that this sacrifice was 
to be the outcome of the Creator’s love for this creature, all un¬ 
grateful and disobedient though he be. Their jealousy at this 
choice of a nature wanting in so many of their own high gifts, 
and therefore so immeasurably beneath the Godhead, and their 
astonishment of this revelation, fructified into insurrection. One- 
third of their number, led by him who, even amid that refulgent 
throng, shone as the Star of the Morning, fell into rebellion 
against the Will they had so lately worshiped. And for their sin 
there was no mercy; awful beyond the power of words was their 
instantaneous punishment. For an account of the fall of the 
angels, which, according to theologians, took place before the 
creation of man, and about the first day of the six devoted by the 
Creator to His work, we must go to the last book of the Scrip¬ 
tures—the Apocalypse. By a retrospective revelation St. John 
was allowed to witness this engagement, short, sharp and decisive. 

‘ i And there was a great battle in heaven, etc. ”... First of 
the mystic group is the princely Michael; he whom we saw but 
never flushed with victory. This radiant figure stands forth dis¬ 
tinct and glorious, even in the white splendor which surrounds 

- 450 - 


460 


GOD’S MESSENGERS AND ASSISTANTS. 


his God. . . . There is another battle between Michael and 

the fallen Lucifer, which is mentioned only by St. Jude in his 
epistle, and that was 4 'when Michael the Archangel, disputing 
with the devil, contended about the body of Moses.” It is 
Michael whom Joshua meets in the field of Jericho. Unlike the 
wrestler with Jacob, he does not refuse to tell his name. . . . 

The Apocalypse teems with angel ministrants. At the last day— 
that direful day, sung by sibyls and prophets, at the very thought 
of which our bodies faint and our souls shrink into nothingness— 
the power and the beauty and the multitude of the angelic hosts 
will be fully revealed as God’s messengers and assistants; led 
by Michael, Gabriel and their compeers, they will bear to each 
the blessing or the ban, as the soul shall merit. With triumphant 
hosannas they will marshal the saved into their own bright 
realms. — M. 

And when He us His beauteous garden shows, 

Where bountiful the Rose of Sharon grows; 

Where in the breezes opening spice-buds swell, 

And the pomegranates yield a pleasant smell: 

While to and fro peace-sandalled angels move 
In the pure air that they—not we—call love. 

—Mrs. Craik. 


HOUSEHOLD MESSENGERS. 


IRovembet 20. 

And they had a King over them which is the angel of the bottomless pit.—Revelation 9:9. 

W E CANNOT deny the personality of Satan except upon 
principles which would compel us to deny the existence 
of angels. The Scripture representations of the progressive rage 
of the great adversary, from his first assault on human virtue in 
Genesis to his final overthrow in Revelation, join with the testi¬ 
mony of Christ that there is a personal being of great power who 
carries on organized opposition to the Divine government. An¬ 
gels are not developed from one original stock, and no such 
common nature binds them together as binds together the race of 
man. They have no common character and history. Each was 
created separately, and each apostate angel fell by himself. 
Humanity fell all at once in its first father. Cut down a tree 
and you cut down its branches. But angels were so many sepa¬ 
rate trees. Some relapsed into sin, but some remained holy. 
This may be one reason why salvation was provided for fallen 
man, but not for fallen angels. Christ could join Himself to 
humanity by taking the common nature of us all. There was 
no common nature of angels which He could take. —Strong. 

At no distant date we shall be welcomed by the “innumerable 
company of angels beautified in the unfading grandeur, incon¬ 
ceivable felicities and immortal youth of the heavenly state; 


“ Where, the blest immortals, 

In love’s pure beauty stand; 

Allowing- us, through faith’s translucent portals, 

Into the better land.” 

—From il Heaven and Home.” 


Blest angels, who adoring wait 
Around the Savior’s throne, 

Oh, tell us, for your eyes have seen, 

The wonders of His love. 

—Frenchard Turner. 


-461- 


1 


VESTURE-SKIRTS OF LIGHT. 

Bovember 21 . 

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden 
altar which is before God.—Revelation 9:13. 

W E FIND as far as credit is to be given to the celestial 
hierarchy of that supposed Dionysius, the Senator of 
Athens, the first place of degree is given to the angels of love, 
which are termed seraphim; the second to the angels of light, 
which are termed cherubim; and the third, and so following 
places, to thrones, principalities and the rest, which are all angels 
of power and ministry, so as the angels of knowledge and illu¬ 
mination are placed before the angels of office and domination. 

—Lord Bacon. 

Are those the tracks of some unearthly friend, 

His footprints, and his testure-skirts of light, 

Who as I talk with men, confirms aright 
Their sympathetic words, or deeds that blend 
With my hid thought: or stoops him to attend 
My doubtful-pleading grief; or blunts the might 
Of all I see not; or in dreams of night 
Figures the scope, in which what is will end ? 

Were I Christ’s own, then fitly might I call 
That vision real; for to the thoughtful mind 
That walks with him, he half reveals his face; 

But when on earth-stained souls such tokens fall, 

These dare not claim as theirs what there they find, 

Yet not all hopeless, eye his boundless grace. 

—Newman. 

Twice the moon filled her silver urn with light, 

Then from the Throne an Angel winged his flight. 

— Samuel Rogers. 


- 462 - 


FORGET-ME-NOTS OF THE ANGELS. 


Bovember 22. 

Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet: Loose the four angels which are 
bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed.—Revelation 9:14. 

S PIRITUAL, therefore, as are the souls of those who are freed 
from the body, or clothed in a medium which cannot be traced 
by mortal sense, the holy angels attend the last moments of the 
servants of God; and when the brief struggle is over, bear them 
triumphantly to their rest above. How many of the dying saints, 
as they entered the waters of Jordan, have expressed their confi¬ 
dent assurance that angelic spirits were present, and have called 
the attention of weeping friends to strains of melody audible only 
to the dying ear. — Rawson. 

“Angelic Doctor” is an appellation bestowed upon Thomas 
Aquinas, or St. Thomas of Aquino (1227-1274). It is said that 
he was so called because he discussed the question of 4 4 how ma*iy 
angels can dance on the point of a needle!” or, more strictly 
speaking, 4 4 if an angel passes from one point to another, does he 
pass over the intervening space?” The Doctor’s answer was 
44 No!” —George Soane. 


blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. 

—Longfellow. 


Hark! they whisper: angels say, 

44 Sister spirit, come away!” 

What is this absorbs me quite— 

Steals my senses, shuts my sight, 

Drowns my spirit, draws my breath? 

Tell me, my soul, can this be death? 

—Alexander Pope. 

Strength drink the angels from Thy glory, 

Though none may search Thy wondrous way. 

—Goethe. 


- 463 - 


CELESTIAL AMBASSADORS. 


November 23 


And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. 


—Revelation 10:1. 


NGELS also were employed by God during the period of 



/i Divine revelation to make known the near approach of par¬ 
ticular events. In this respect the introduction of the Gospel 
dispensation is all radiant with their ministrations. As a multi¬ 
tude of the heavenly host came down in the train of their eternal 
Lord, so to one in particular was committed the honored mission 
of announcing beforehand the approach of the Dayspring on 
earth. To prepare for the birth of the forerunner in circum¬ 
stances almost humanly impossible, the temple must be illumi¬ 
nated by the presence of a celestial ambassador; Mary must be 
prepared for the event at which the world might point the slow, 
unmoving finger of scorn; the shepherds must be directed to the 
lowly birth; and for all this, Gabriel must be sent on a special 
mission from the throne of the Divine Majesty. And when 
Daniel was favored with his visions of the future, the same 
mighty angel had been sent to make him “understand them.” 


Eobert M. Patterson, D. D. 


''Dan. 8:16.) 


Beyond, ah! who is there 
With the white snowy hair? 

’Tis He, , tis He, the Son of Mary, appearing 
At the right hand of One, 

The darkness of whose throne 
That sun-eyed host behold with awe and fearing; 

O’er Him the rainbow springs 
And spreads its emerald wings 

Down to the glassy sea, his loftiest seat o’er-arching. 

Hark! thunders from His throne, like steel-clad armies marching. 
The Christ! the Christ! commands us to His home! 

Jesus, Redeemer, Lord, we come—we come! 


—Henry Hart Milman. 


- 464 - 



c 


THE HERMIT 

(See page 480) 


Arnold Bocklin 





















TWO SINGING ANGELS 

(See page 480) 





WINSOMENESS OF THEIR AFFECTIONS. 


November 24. 


And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand 
to heaven, and swore hy Him that liveth forever and ever, that there shall be time no 
longer.—Revelation 10: 5, 6. 

D IVINES distinguish two sources of knowledge in the angels: 

(1) By the Beatific Vision the angels are all things, present, 
past, future and most perfectly, in God; this is called the ‘ ‘ morn¬ 
ing ’ ’ knowledge, because both of its priority and of its clearness. 
(2) The angels afterwards see things as they really take place. 
This knowledge is not so noble, not so perfect as the ‘ 1 morning ’ ’ 
knowledge, and therefore, because of its lateness and its dimness, 
is called the “evening” knowledge. —Augustine. 

Hark! the shrill echoes of the tempest roar, 

And call the trembling armies near; 

Slow and unwilling they appear: 

’Twas the same herald, and the trump the same 
Which shall be blown by high command, 

Shall bid the wheels of nature stand, 

And heaven’s eternal will proclaim 
That “Time shall be no more.” 

—Isaac Watts. 


Shall all but man look out with ardent eye 
For that great day which was ordained for man ? 
0 day of consummation! Mark supreme 
(If men were wise of human thought) nor least 
Of in the sight of angels, or their King! 

Angels, whose radiant circles, height on height. 
Order on order, rising blaze o’er blaze. 

As in a theater, surround the scene, 

Intent on man, and anxious for his fate. 

Angels look out for thee, for thee, their Lord, 
To vindicate his glory; and for thee, 

Creation universal calls aloud, 

To disinvolve the moral world, and give 
To nature’s renovation brighter charms. 


■f 


—Edward Young. 


CHIEF OF GUARDIAN ANGELS. 

November 25. 

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound. 

—Revelation 10:7. 

T HE word “archangel” means “great” or “high angel.” In 
the apocryphal books five are mentioned: 1. Raphael (the 
medicine of God) is the chief of guardian angels. He bears the 
staff and gourd of a pilgrim. 2. Uriel (the light of God) is 
regent of the sun, and was the teacher of Esdras. His symbols 
are a roll and a book. 3. Chamuel (one who sees God) is be¬ 
lieved by some to be the angel who wrestled with Jacob, and who 
appeared to Christ during the agony in the garden. Others 
believe the latter to have been Gabriel. Chamuel hears a cup 
and staff. 4. Jophiel (the beauty of God) is the guardian of the 
Tree of Knowledge, who drove Adam and Eve from the Garden 
of Eden; the protector of seekers for truth; the preceptor of 
the sons of Noah; the enemy of those who pursue vain knowledge. 
His attribute is a flaming sword. 5. Zadkiel (the righteousness 
of God) is said to have stayed the hand of Abraham from the 
sacrifice of Isaac. The sacrificial knife is the symbol of Zadkiel. 

—Clara Erskine Clement. 

. -. 

Now let us join with hearts and tongues, 

And emulate the angels’ songs; 

Yea, sinners may address their King 
In songs that angels cannot sing. 

They praise the Lamb who once was slain; 

But we can add a higher strain,— 

Not only say, He suffered thus, 

But that He suffered all for us. —Isaac Watts. 

Seven angels (as the Scriptures witness) stand 
Before the Almighty, first at His command; 

And these by His divine infusion know 
How to dispose of all things here below; 

As those celestials; who doth institute 
Those Seven, His divine will execute. 

Years, days, and hours amongst them they divide, 

The planets and the stars they likewise guide. 

The precedent of Sol is Raphael, 

The guardian of the Moon, called Gabriel, 

Chamuel the third, Mars his bright star protects, 

Michael the sphere of Mercury directs. 

Adabiel, o’er Jove hath domination, 

And Haniel of Venus gubernation. 

Zaphiel is Saturn’s prince and of spirits seven 
Saint John makes mention with their place in heaven. 

—Clayton’s Angelology. 


SINGING THEIR LULLABIES. 


Wovembec 20. 

And the voice said: Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the 
angel.—Revelation 10:8. 

S INCE the canon of Scripture was closed, have angels ceased 
to take any interest in the affairs of earth? Because their 
missions of love to the world and in behalf of man are no longer 
recorded by the pen of inspiration, are they no more taking place? 
And are these angels not coming forth to visit us now? Have 
they retired up into their holy places to take their ease, and fold 
their hands in idleness, and to sit motionless in their seats of 
honor? It cannot he! These missions and that interest of the 
angels will only terminate at the Great Day. 

—Heaven and Home. 


Out yonder in the moonlight 
Wherein God’s-Acre lies 
Go angels walking to and fro 
Singing their lullabies; 

Their radiant wings are folded 
And their eyes are bended low; 

As they sing among the beds 

Whereon the flowers delight to grow. 

Sleep! oh, sleep! 

The Shepherd loveth His sheep! 

Fast speedeth the night away, 

Soon cometh the glorious day! 

The flowers within GodVAcre 
See that fair and wondrous sight, 

And hear the angels singing 

To the sleepers through the night; 

And lo! throughout the hours of day 
Those gentle flowers prolong 
The music of the angels 
In that tender slumber-song. 

From angel and from flower 

The years have learned that soothing song; 

And with its heavenly music 

Speed the days and nights along; 

So through all time whose flight 
The shepherds’ vigils glorify, 

God’s-Acre slumbereth in the grace 
Of that sweet lullaby. 

—Eugene Field. 

- 467 - 


TALKING TO ANGELS. 


IRovember 27 


And I went unto the angel, and said unto him: Give me the little book.—Revelation 10:9. 


HOSE who most know the poor will understand best what a 



1 comfort this sense of “ company” will be to them. They will 
welcome the angels, with whom, indeed, they have never quite 
lost touch; they will rejoice in the notion of their being about 
them when they are all alone. Hand-workers suffer more from 
loneliness than head-workers do. The wife watching in her cot¬ 
tage for her husband’s coming home; the handicrafts man all by 
himself; the laborer who has a lonely job in an outlying field 
and a solitary walk home—all these will find it a blessing to have 
their minds peopled with heavenly beings who love them, who 
are not above taking interest in what interests them. This sym¬ 
pathy of the angels in suffering is the keystone of the whole. 
But angels are more than passive beholders, and it is as active 
agents that they will be most recognized by the poor. . . . 

Now the angels form an audience for us in this life of ours, and 
with them, too, the man goes for more than his part; we shall 
act with all our spirit if we feel them to be by. 4 ‘The angels 
must find it very dull,” say some, “looking on everlastingly at 
the doings of commonplace people. ’ ’ I do not believe that angels 
ever find any of God’s creatures commonplace or uninteresting. 

. . . I dwell principally on the practical outcome of this belief. 

I say, for instance, that to fancy ourselves before the eyes of a 
host of angels will lead us to try and show ourselves at our best; 
and that the belief that angels survey our acts, catching at any¬ 
thing that may tell of good in the actor, will make us turn towards 
them, as a man, worn by the strife and evil judging of the world, 
turns to the safe haven of his home. 


—Rev. Henry Latham. 

Hence heaven looks down on earth with all her eyes; 

Hence the soul’s mighty moment in her sight; 

Hence every soul has partisans abote, 

And every thought a critic in the skies; 

Hence clay, vile clay, has angels for its guard, 

And every guard a passion for his charge; 

Hence, from all age, the Cabinite divine 
Has held high counsel o’er the fate of man. 

- 468 ^ 


—'Young. 


INFLUENCE OF ANGELIC PRESENCE. 


Wovember 28. 

And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand.—Revelation 10:10. 

T HE Book closes as it begins, with the rustle of angel robes 
and the lifting of angel wings. The Book begins in a gar¬ 
den and it ends in a garden. In our material age we have little 
use for gardens; we would rather have gold mines. But the 
gold of the Book is not sordid and tinged with greed, as our 
gold is apt to be; it is sunlit as the yellow sheen on the maples 
in the hour of autumn’s coronation, as the yellow of daffodils 
when spring comes dancing over land and sea. Such gold may 
the angels have worn when God sent them on errands to kings. 
But I do not imagine that they always came in white raiment 
with fringes and mantles of royal gold. They came in other 
guise, dressed in rough homespun of laboring men, or with loins 
girt like those who travel in haste; they were sometimes not to 
be distinguished from the common folk about them, nor from 
the dusk that enfolded and hid them from view. The old masters 
have tried to draw them, and the old poets to show forth their 
wisdom and their beauty in matchless verse. But the angels 
elude all pens save those of inspiration. “ Are they not all min¬ 
istering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs 
of salvation V 7 sums up in a sentence the whole mission, the 
marvel of these beings of another world, who have so often and 
so potentially mingled with and influenced our little planet for 
its weal or its warning, its bliss or its dole. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 

Oh the depths of joy divine 
Thrilling through those orders nine, 

When the lost are found again, 

When the banished come to reign! 

Now in faith, in hope, in love 
We will join the choirs above, 

Praising with the Heavenly Host, 

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

—Rev. B. M. Benson. 

- 469 - 


AM AERIAL RACE. 


November 20. 

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood saying: Rise and 
measure the temple of God.—Revelation 11:1. 

T HE subject of angels is one not merely of curious speculation, 
but also of great practical importance, both to the right 
understanding of the Divine Word and to the proper conduct of 
the Christian life. For all reliable information in regard to this 
class of beings we are indebted to the inspired volume; and its 
Divine Author has been pleased to reveal only so much as it was 
important that we should know, and little or nothing to gratify 
a prurient curiosity or vain imagination. 

The existence of such an order of beings is so fully recognized 
in the Scriptures that it may seem strange how any, acknowledg¬ 
ing their authority, could call this truth in question. And yet 
we learn that a whole sect of Jews utterly discarded the doctrine. 
“For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither 
angel nor spirit.” And in later times, some, following their 
mode of interpretation, would explain away the existence and 
agency of angelic beings as not in harmony with reason and sound 
philosophy. But that there is nothing in the doctrine of the 
existence of angels opposed to our reason, may be argued from 
the very general belief among nearly all nations, as well as from 
the order and gradation we find pervading the universe so far as 
known to us. It is not only in accordance with the popular faith, 
but what our own reason might suggest, that, besides man, there 
might be other orders of rational creatures, and that the vast 
interval between God and man might be peopled with invisible 
beings of a higher order than ourselves. According to Plato, 
there is an aerial race, intermediate between God and mortals, 
and acting as messengers and interpreters for both, and through 
whose instrumentality all intercourse is carried on between heaven 
and earth. But when we turn to the Bible, doubt is dispelled 
and faith confirmed in the existence of angelic beings. There 
is indeed no formal proof of their existence, but, like that of 
God Himself and the human soul, it is everywhere assumed as 
- 470 - 


ANGELS AS REAL BEINGS. 


471 


a truth not to be doubted. Angels are introduced in the inspired 
record as real beings, are spoken of in such a manner and exhib¬ 
ited as performing such offices that we cannot question the reality 
without destroying the authority of God’s word. 

—J. A. Brown. 

See in every hedge row 
Marks of angels* feet 
Espies in each pebble 
Underneath our feet 

—Charles Kingsley. 


Be ye to man as angels are to God 

Servants in pleasure, singers of delight, 
Suggesters to his soul of higher things 
Than any of your highest! 


—E. B. Browning. 


ANGELIC TRIBUTES. 


IRo vein bet 30. 

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying: The 
Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he 
shall reign forever and ever.—Revelation 11:15. 

M EANWHILE, legions of angels are seen darting from pole 
to pole, gathering together the faithful servants of Christ 
from the four winds of heaven and bearing them aloft to meet 
the Lord in the air. —Dr. Pay son. 

As to the value of the revelations concerning the angels which 
the Bible contains: In them is found a partial satisfaction of 
that craving for the knowledge of creatures higher than ourselves 
and yet fellow-servants of God, which in its diseased form be¬ 
comes polytheism. Its full satisfaction is to be found in the 
incarnation alone, and it is to be noticed that after the revelation 
of God in the flesh, the angelic ministrations recorded are indeed 
fewer, but the references to the angels are far more frequent— 
as though the danger of polytheistic idolatry had, comparatively 
speaking, passed away. The angels pay a wonderful tribute to 
the mspired Word of God, and the nature of the revelations which 
it makes concerning them have a reflex influence in confirming 
its divine origin. —Robert M. Patterson, D. D. 

Sometimes I hear strange music, 

Like none e’er heard before 
Come floating softly earthward 
As through heaven’s open door; 

It seems like angel voices 
In strains of joy and love, 

That swell the mighty chorus 
Around the throne above. 

This music haunts me ever, 

Like something heard in dreams; 

It seems to catch the cadence 
Of heavenly winds and streams. 

My heart is filled with rapture, 

To think, some day to come, 

I’ll sing it with the angels— 

The Song of Heaven and Home. 

—Eben E. Rexford. 


- 472 - 




t 



A 



book: xii. 


December. 





























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December 


MY WHITE ARCHANGEL. 


December l, 


And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. 


—Revelation 12:7. 



NLY two angels, Michael and Gabriel, are mentioned by 


V-/ name before the Babylonian captivity. To the Bible stu¬ 
dent, Michael is the most interesting of angels. Concerning him 
we have much definite information. YvTio can read of bis 
‘‘ standing, ’ ’ bis 4 ‘ contending, ’ ’ bis * 4 disputing, ’ ’ bis ‘ ‘ fighting, ’ ’ 
bis “shouting” on behalf of the people of God, and not realize 
that be is the champion angel of Israel, sustaining a solitary and 
unique relationship to that nation, in defiance of all the world 
powers arrayed against him. The title “archangel” applied to 
Michael distinguishes him from the Lord Jesus, whom be shall 
accompany in his second glorious advent. Whether Michael he 
the only one of his particular rank cannot be certainly determined. 
The word is never found plural in Scripture. There is but one 
devil at the head of all demons. And these two mighty beings, 
seemingly of equal rank, are to meet in command of their re¬ 
spective armies in the great war of heaven. 


—Mrs. Geo. C. Needham. 


The battle over, what joy amid the triumphant choirs! What 
sheathing of celestial swords, what massing of heavenly stand¬ 
ards ! How the archangelic cohorts must have answered the soft 
zephyrs of that higher Eden as on silvery pinions they swept 
through the radiant masses to meet and escort the victor to his 
place before the throne, casting one glance of regret, perhaps, 
towards the vacant spot where erst resplendent Lucifer shone 


— 475 — 



476 


BID THEM AID US IN OUR STRIFE. 


amid his princely compeers! Not all the physical perfections 
yet left to fallen humanity, were they centered in one being, could 
compare with those of the first of the star-crowned seven. As, 
however, in the performance of his Creator’s behests, Michael 
has shown himself to us a young man clothed in full and radiant 
panoply, so only can we bring him before our mental vision. But 
even then we dare not raise our eyes to the splendor of that 
heavenly armor, else we lose all power of future seeing. 

-M. 


Then I raised my eyes, and, shining 
Where the moon ’s first ray was bright, 

Stood a winged angel-warrior 
Clothed and panoplied in light; 

So with heaven’s love upon him, 

Stern in calm and resolute will, 

Looked St. Michael—does the picture 
Hang in the old cloister still? 

Threefold were the dreams of honor 
That absorbed my heart and brain; 

Threefold crowns the angel promised, 

Each one to be bought by pain: 

While he spoke a threefold blessing 
Fell upon my soul like rain. 

Helper of the poor and suffering; 

Victor in a glorious strife; 

Singer of a noble poem; 

Such the honors of my life. 

—Adelaide A. Proctor. 

Thousand thousand warrior princes 
In Thine angel army stand; 

Flames the victor cross before them, 

Grasped in Michael’s dauntless hand. 

Lord of angels, Christ, we pray Thee, 

Bid them aid us in our strife, 

Chase afar the hosts of evil, 

Till we reach the land of life. 

—Old Latin Hymn 


WAR IN ANGEL-LAND. 


December 2. 

And the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was there place 
found any more in heaven.—Revelation 12:8. 

B EHOLD here a wonder of wickedness, angels’ sin; a wonder 
of justice, God spared them not; a wonder of punishment, 
he cast them down to hell; a wonder of vengeance, for they are 
reserved unto judgment! Here are deep themes and terrible. 
Notice that these who sinned were angels in heaven, so that there 
is no necessary security in the most high position. We know 
that they are in heavenly places, for it was from that high abode 
that they were cast down into hell by the terrible right hand of 
the Eternal King. These angels that kept not their first estate, 
but sinned against God, dwelt with their brethren in the court 
of the Most High; they seemed to be, as it were, walled round 
with fire to keep out all evil from them. Their communications 
were only with perfect spirits like themselves; but yet, as they 
were undergoing probation, they were made capable of choosing 
evil if they willed to so do, or of cleaving to good if their hearts 
were steadfast with their God. There were none about them to 
tempt them to evil; they were, on the contrary, surrounded with 
every good and holy influence; they saw God, and abode in His 
courts; they conversed with seraphim and cherubim. Their 
daily engagements were all of a holy order; worship and service 
were their duty and delight. Their company was select; there 
were no lapsed classes among them to render the atmosphere im¬ 
pure. They were not only in a paradise, but in the central abode 
of God Himself. Yet evil entered into the breasts of angels— 
even envy, ambition, pride, rebellion; and they fell, fell never to 
rise again: 


High on the bright and happy throng, 
Satan, a tall archangel, sat; 

Amongst the morning stars he sung 
Till sin destroyed his heavenly state. 


-477- 


—Spurgeon. 


GOOD ANGELS CONQUER. 


December 3, 


And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, 
which aeceiveu uhe whoie world; and his angeis were cast out with him.—itevelacion 12:9. 


IABOLOS” (devil) means slanderer, and is always in 



Ly the singular. He is the master spirit of evil. Other evil 
angels are called “diamomes” (devils). Pride and ambition 
were especially the sins by which Satan and his companions fell. 
The revolt appears to have been hut one, to have existed at one 
time, and to have united those who shared in it in the same guilt 
as well as in the same undertaking. —Edwards. 

Although the angels were originally created perfect, yet they 
were mutable. Some of them sinned, and kept not their first 
estate; and so, the most blessed and glorious, became the most 
vile and miserable of all God’s creatures. They were expelled 
the regions of light, and with heaven lost their heavenly dispo¬ 
sition, and fell into a settled rancor against God and malice 
against men. What their offense was, is difficult to determine, 
the Scripture being silent about it. Some think envy, others un¬ 
belief; but most suppose it was pride. As to the time of the 
fall, we are certain it could not be before the sixth day of the 
creation, because on that day it is said, “God saw everything 
that he had made, and behold, it was very good;” but that it 
was not long after is very probable, as it must have preceded the 
fall of our first parents. The number of the fallen angels seems 
to be great, and like the holy angels, perhaps, have various orders 
among them. —Charles Buch. 

All the Fathers are unanimous as to the existence of angels 
good and evil. They hold that it is evermore the allotted task 
of good angels to defend us against evil angels, and to carry on 
a daily and hourly combat against our spiritual foes. They 
teach that the good angels are worthy of all reverence as the 
ministers of God and as the protectors of the human race. 


—Mrs. Jameson. 


— 478 — 


TO EQUAL THE MOST HIGH. 


479 


He was Wisdom and the Word 
And sent His angels minislrant, 

Unterrified and undeterred, 

To rescue souls forlorn and lost, 

The troubled, tempted, tempest-tost, 

To heal, to comfort or to teach. 

—Longfellow. 


The infernal serpent, he it was whose guile, 
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived 
The mother of mankind, what time his pride 
Had cast him out of heaven, with all his host 
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring 
To set himself in glory ’bove his peers, 

He trusted to have equaled the Most High, 

If he opposed; and with ambitious aim 
Against the throne and monarchy of God, 
Raised impious war in heaven and battle proud, 
With vain attempt. 


—Milton. 


SWEETER THAN A MOTHER’S SONG. 


December 4. 

And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a 
great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. 

—Revelation 14:2. 

M USIC is thus, in her health, the teacher of perfect order, 
and is the voice of the obedience of angels and the com¬ 
panion of the course of the spheres of heaven. — Euskin. 

Music is well said to he the speech of angels. —Carlyle. 

But in the early days, while God was leading His chosen 
people to their inheritance, these heavenly visitants were allowed 
to demonstrate themselves to the weak human eye. For that 
marvelous dispensation was one of closest intercourse between 
the Creator and the created; and the Almighty, since His gran¬ 
deur was such that no mortal could look upon it and live, needed 
heralds and messengers to convey His mandates and His mercies. 
Their passings, as recorded in sacred Scriptures, have been 
chronicled, from the vision of surpassing beauty which, leaning 
from the dazzling sky, greeted the despairing eyes of Hagar and 
brought her heartsease, to the radiant form which illumined the 
prison of Peter and wrought his release. As has been said above, 
the first of poets to commemorate the angels was the Shepherd- 
King. One of the old English poets, Sandvs, has made a pleas¬ 
ing versification of the 148th Psalm: 

“You who dwell above the skies 
Free from human miseries, 

You whom highest heaven embowers, 

Praise the Lord with all your powers! 

Angels! your clear voices raise! 

Him your heavenly armies raise 

As to the rabbinical legends of the realms of the air, there is 
none more exquisite in delicacy of conception, with the added 
beauty of Longfellow’s magic verse, than that of ‘‘Sandalphon.” 
Lancisius quotes from Philo a tradition among the Jews. God 

- 480 - 



ANGELIC CHOIR 


Fra Angelica 


(See page 480) 



















* 



ST. CECILIA 


Namjok 


(See page 482) 






THE SWEETEST PRAISE. 481 

» 

asked the angels what they thought of the works of His hands. 
One replied that it was so vast, so perfect, that only one thing 
was wanting to it: that there should be a clear, mighty and 
harmonizing voice which should fill all the quarters of the world 
incessantly with its sweet sound in thanksgiving to the Creator. 
Did God set the spheres rolling to produce this harmony! Per¬ 
haps this is the secret of the music of them. — M. 

The angel spoke—his voice was low and sweet 
As the sea’s murmur on low-lying shore— 

Or whisper of the wind in ripened wheat: 

“Brother/’ he said, “the God we both adore 
Has sent me down to ask, Is all not right? 

Why was Magnificat not sung tonight ?” 

Tranced in the joy the angel ’s presence brought, 

The Abbot answered: “All these weary years 
We have sung our best—but always have we thought 
Our voices were unworthy heavenly ears; 

And so tonight we found a clearer tongue, 

And by it the Magnificat was sung.” 

The angel answered: “All these happy years 
In heaven has your Magnificat been heard; 

This night alone, the angels’ listening ears 
Of all its music caught no single word. 

Say! who is he whose goodness is not strong 
Enough to bear the burden of his song?” 

The Abbot named his names. “Ah! why,” he cried, 

Have angels heard not what we found so dear?” 

“Only pure hearts,” the angel’s voice replied, 

“Can carry human songs up to God’s ear; 

Tonight in heaven was missed the sweetest praise 
That ever rises from earth’s mud-stained maze. 
******** 

From purest hearts most perfect music springs, 

And while you mourned your perfect voices were not sweet, 

Marred by the accident of earthly things, 

In heaven, God, listening, judged your songs complete; 

The sweetest music of earth’s music came from you, 

The music of a noble life and true!” 


—E. Nesbit. 


LOFTY MINSTRELSY. 


December 5 


And the angels sang, as it were, a new song before the throne; and no man could 
learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from 
the earth.—Revelation 14:3. 


HE philosophy of Pythagoras talked about the music of the 



1 spheres, and it was a truly beautiful dream which turned 
the stars into musical chords, of which the strains could be caught 
and understood only by gifted souls. The fact is amplified where 
we read of the unfallen and the redeemed joining together in 
the praises of creative and saving love. Happy are they whose 
ears are attuned to that lofty minstrelsy, and whose hearts re¬ 
spond to the hallowed sentiments which the songs of angels and 
of the just made perfect are intended to express. The soul- 
harmony of the world above us is double harmony; here below, 
indeed, there is rich music produced by Christian friendship 
and holy love; but the songs are always broken, the antiphones 
are never perfect. We must wait till we enter the choir which 
St. John describes, before we can attain to uninterrupted and 
eternal concord. —Anonymous. 


He listened to the song, 

And hardly breathed or stirred, 

Until he saw as in a vision 
The land Elysian, 

And in the heavenly city heard 
Angelic feet 

Fall on the golden flagging of the street. 


—Longfellow. 


Every voice is there harmonious, 

Praising God in hymns euphonious; 

Love each heart with light unfolding, 

As they stand in peace beholding: 

Sweetest strains from soft harps stealing; 
Trumpet notes of triumph pealing; 
Radiant wings and white stoles gleaming, 
Up the steps of glory streaming; 

Where the heavenly bells are ringing: 
Holy! Holy! Holy! singing 
To the mighty Trinity! 


-482- 


— Thomas & Kempis. 


STAY THEIR WAVING WINGS. 


2>ecembet 6. 

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to 
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and people. 

—Revelation 14:6. 

M ANY of the beautiful, helpful and inspiring thoughts that 
come to us—for they seem to come unasked and unsought- 
now in our busy moments, and again in our quiet moments, are 
perhaps more often and truly traceable to heavenly and angelic 
influences than we are disposed to think in this 1 i money and 
mud” period of human experience. Farrar’s heart was touched 
with the necessary beauty of the home in Nazareth, guided and 
supported by Joseph, hallowed and sweetened by Mary and illu¬ 
mined by the youthful Jesus; and he spoke of it as “a homey 
for the sake of which all the earth would be dearer and more 
awful to the watchers and holy ones, and where, if the fancy be 
permitted us, they would love to stay their waving wings. ’’ To 
the true heart and enlightened spirit, there may be in reality 
more of angels’ flight about it than of imagination’s flight There 
are thoughts, there are places for the sake of which earth is 
dearer to the watchers and holy ones who move and stay their 
wings in earthly ministrations. —A. C. Courtice, M. A. 

And the angel band 

Whose glancing wings gleamed by the tree of life, 

Their very plumes were tremulous with joy. 

—Augustus C. Bristol. 


And ye come on ready wing, 

When we drift toward sheer despair, 

Seeing naught where we might cling, 

Suddenly, lo! ye are there! 

—Johann Rist. 


Angels are near me, fail not to hear me, 

And soothe the trouble of my heart. 

Yes! spirits from high hover o’er me, 

And comfort sure they bring; 

The bright stars of heaven may be shaded, 

But ’tis by an angel’s wing, 

—Henry Farnie. 

- 483- 


FAR AS ANGEL’S KEN. 


December 7. 


And there followed another angel saying: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 

—Revelation 14:8. 

ORPOREAL matter is not the proper cause of action; nor 



does any philosophy prove that anything that is merely 
body can move itself. So that the angelic essence, being free 
from any material mixture, is also free from all clogs and en¬ 
cumbrances. It is all pure action, and so must needs exert itself 
at a higher rate of force than any of those bodily agents that we 
see and converse with. Neither do the angels move by certain 
periods and steps of progression, as we are fain to do; but they 
measure the vastest spaces in the twinkling of an eye, in a 
moment, in a portion of time so short that it falls under no 
mortal perception of observation. And for this cause were the 
cherubim in the tabernacle painted with wings, the best way that 
we have of expressing their great agility; though the swiftness of 
an arrow is no more to be compared to the speed of an angel 
than the motion of a snail can be compared to that of the arrow. 


-R. South, D. D. 


And when tlie angel shadow 
Rests his feet on wave and shore, 
And our eyes grow dim with weeping, 
And our hearts faint at the oar, 
Happy is he who heareth 
The angel of his release 
In the bells of the Holy City, 

The chimes of eternal peace. 


—Anonymous. 


Fit words and music come to birth; 


There soars an angel to the skies, 
There walks a Presence on the earth. 


— Sir Lewis Morris. 


- 484 - 


MUSIC, THE SPEECH OF ANGELS. 


December 8. 


And the third angel followed, saying with a loud voice: If any man worship the 
beast and his image, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is 
poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented 
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the 
lamb.—Revelations 14:9, 10. 

D Y TH E decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, 
' some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, 
and others fore-ordained to everlasting death. God hath ap¬ 
pointed a day, wherein He will judge the world in righteousness 
by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the 
Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be 
judged; but likewise all persons that have lived upon earth shall 
appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their 
thoughts, words and deeds; and to receive according to what they 
have done in the body, whether good or evil. 

—Confession of Faith. 

At the creation, harmony prevailed in heaven; all the sons of 
God, says Job, shouted for joy. What caused the termination of 
this blissful state we are not informed; but the Babylonians have 
preserved for us a remarkable tradition of it, which is found on a 
cruciform tablet, now in the British Museum. This tablet de¬ 
scribes the revolt of the gods or angels against their creator. 
While the host of heaven was assembled, and were all engaged in 
singing hymns of praise to their Maker, suddenly some evil spirit 
gave the signal of revolt. The hymn ceased in one part of the 
assembly, which burst forth into loud curses and imprecations on 
their Creator. In His wrath He sounded a loud blast of the trum¬ 
pet and drove them from His presence, never to return. 

-H. Fox Talbot, F. R. S. 


Now let all the heavens adore Thee, 

And men and angels sing before Thee, 

With harp and cymbal ’s clearest tone, 

When we are with the choir immortal 
Of angels round Thy dazzling throne. 

Rev. Philip Nicolai. 

- 48 £- 


SILVER BOWERS LEAVE. 


December 9. 

And another angel came out of the temple.—Revelation 14:15. 


F ROM the beginning to the end of our joy, only we children of 
God are attended and accompanied by an invisible host, sent 
forth to minister unto us, God’s own angels, who without haste 
and without rest accomplish His errands. The Book is full of the 
rustling of their wings, of the echoes of their golden harps. To 
Abraham at the tent door they brought the word sent straight from 
heaven. Jacob, his head pillowed on a stone, had a vision of 
comfort as he saw them ascending and descending between two 
worlds. To the man tempted, to the man disheartened, to the man 
called to do great deeds, to the man in the beleaguered city, came 
now a single angel, and again a mighty host of angels, rank upon 
rank, shining, strong, magnificent, panoplied in the armor of the 
Most High God! —Margaret E. Sangster. 

And though their angel-names I do not ken, 

Though in their faces human love I read, 

They are God-given to this world of men, 

God-sent to bless it in its hours of need. 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 


For a radiant angel hovered, 

Smiling, o’er the little head; 

White his raiment, from his shoulders 
Snowy, dove-like pinions spread. 

And the star-like light was shining 
In a glory round his head. 

While with tender love the angel 
Leaning o’er the little nest, 

In his arms the sick child folding, 

Laid him gently on his breast; 

Sobs and wailings told the mother 
That her darling was at rest. 

So the angel, slowly rising, 

Spread its wings, and through the air 
Bore the child, and while he held him 
To his heart with loving care, 

Placed a branch of crimson roses 
Tenderly beside him there. 

—Adelaide A. Proctor, 

— 486 — 


t 


SUCCOR US, WHO SUCCOR WANT. 


^December 10 


And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a short 
sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire. 

' —Revelation 14:17, 19. 


AKE the reach of an angel’s mind, but at the same time take 



1 the seraphic fervor of an angePs benevolence along with it; 
how from the eminence on which he stands he may have an eye 
upon many worlds, and a remembrance of the origin and the suc¬ 
cessive concerns of every one of them; how he may feel the full 
force of a most affecting relationship of one* common Father; and 
though it he both the effect and the evidence of our depravity, that 
we cannot sympathize with these pure and generous ardors of a 
celestial spirit, how it may consist with the lofty comprehension 
and the ever-breathing love of an angei, that he can both shoot 
his benevolence abroad over a mighty expanse of suns and sys¬ 
tems, and lavish a flood of tenderness on each individual of their 
teeming population. —Dr. Chalmers. 


Her angel’s face, 
As the great eye of heaven, shyned bright, 
And made a sunshine in the shady place. 


—Edmund Spenser. 


Was’t for the helmed and crowned 

That suns were stayed at noonday? Stormy seas 

As a rill parted? Mailed archangels sent 

To wither up the strength of kings with death? 

I tell you if those marvels have been done, 

’Twas for the wearied and the oppressed of men; 


They needed such. 


—Geo. McDonald. 


- 487 - 


ANGEL REAPER’S CHOICE. 


December U 


And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth. 

—Revelation 14:19. 


HAT philosophy calls ideas, and mythology calls gods, re- 



V V ceive in revelation the name of angels; but it is the pecu¬ 
liar characteristic of the angels to be ever active for the Kingdom 
of God. Ideas, the divinities of life, operate as angels then, and 
then only, when their tendency is not in the direction of the king¬ 
dom of this world, but in that of the Kingdom of God, as their 
main object—when they are indicators for the Kingdom of Holi¬ 
ness. —Bishop Martinsen. 

As it is wisdom that makes the angels perfect and constitutes 
their life, and as heaven with its good things flows into every one 
in the measure of his wisdom, so all in heaven desire and hunger 
for wisdom much as a hungry man hungers for food. 


— Swedenborg. 


An angel brought from heaven a new-born thought, 

A tiny thing, with serious, sweet eyes, 

That held within their depths a radiance caught 
From starry midnight skies. 

Within a poet’s heart the angel laid 

His burden. Hour by hour it grew more fair, 

More beautiful, until his presence made 
That heart, once dark and bare, 

All aglow with light. Ere long with questions sweet, 
Nurtured by Love, untaught as yet by art, 

It climbed the stairs, so steep for childish feet, 

That wind ’twixt brain and heart. 


—Mable Parker Clepp. 


- 488 - 


WHOSE FACES SEE GOD. 


December 12 . 


And I saw another sirgn in heaven, great and marvelous—seven angels.—Revelation 15 :L 

O F COURSE we find no definition or description of an angel 
in the Bible. Whatever conclusions we may reach respect¬ 
ing their nature, history and function, must be based, for the most 
part, upon intimation, implication or inference. Considerable 
may be learned from the names which are assigned to these heav¬ 
enly existences. You will notice that I have presupposed them 
to be actual existences. They must be. To call them mere per¬ 
sonifications would be to put an uncertain element into the most 
straightforward and literal statements of Scripture, that would 
end ultimately in overthrowing the trustworthiness of the entire 
Book. Angels are real beings wfitli spiritual natures. That 
means more than it seems to mean—more than we can compre¬ 
hend. It means that they are spiritual in essence, intelligence, 
habit and mode of subsistence. They are incorporeal in one sense, 
and yet corporeal in another, having glorified bodies or ‘ ‘ spiritual 
forms,” like unto all the inhabitants of heaven. It is true that 
they often appear to men as men, but this is a form assumed tem¬ 
porarily for a special purpose. It is angelophany, and this is not 
dissimilar in purpose or character from an Old Testament theoph- 
any. Angels are neither divine nor human, but intermediate or¬ 
ders such as, on “ a priovi ’ ’ grounds, we might expect to exist be¬ 
tween God and man. Being inferior to God, they are not omnis¬ 
cient, omnipresent or omnipotent, but being superior to man they 
are superhuman in intelligence, capability, discernment and 
power. Hence their knowledge of human events, their high ap¬ 
preciation of God, and their power of locomotion and execution. 
Being spiritual in their nature, they do not age, grow or die, but 
are perpetually youthful, remaining the same as when created. 

—Rev. John Balcom Shaw, D. I). 

A glorious vision; as I walked at noon, 

The children of the sun came thronging round me, 

In shining robes and diamond-studded shoon; 

And they did wing me up with them, and soon 
,-489- 


490 THEY CALLED .ME BROTHER. 

In a bright dome of wondrous width I found me, 

Set all with beautiful eyes, whose wizard rays, 

Shed on my soul, in strong enchantment bound me; 

And so I looked and looked with dazzled gaze, 

Until my spirit drank in so much light 
That I grew like the sons of that glad place, 

Transparent, lovely, pure, serene and bright: 

Then did they call me brother; and there grew 
Swift from my sides broad pinions gold and white, 

And with that happy flock a brilliant thing I flew. 

—T upper. 



holy placid harp tones. 


Bccember 13. 


They had the harps of God, and they sung the song of Moses, the servant of God, and 
the song of the Lamb. And the seven angels came out of the temple.—Revelation 15:3, 6. 



HEIR occupations are very various, though falling under only 


1 two great classes—worship and service; the former towards 
God, the latter towards men; and their worship is always heavenly 
singing. Latimer preaches of the “angels singing with great 
pleasant voice; ’ ’ and Milton speaks of the angels: 

“ Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent.’’ 

Shakespeare uses it for one of his most beautiful similes: 

“There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st, 

But in its motion like an angel sings, 

Still quiring to the young and cherubims.” 

Herbert turns it in his own reverent way: 

“Lord, let the angels praise Thy name, 

Man is a foolish thing, a foolish thing!” 

And hearty George Wither, distributing the parts of a uni¬ 
versal chorus gives the angels the tenor: 


“Come ye sons of human race, 
In this chorus take a place 
And amid the mortal throng 
Be ye masters of this song. 
Angels and supernal powers, 
Be the noblest tenor yours!” 


So they appear in the paintings of the great masters; singing, 
■with uplifted heads, sometimes in harmony, before the swell of 
music floating loosely over their hands; sometimes in unison, 
countless faces radiant with blissful worship, till, gazing on the 
canvas, vou wonder that the whole air does not break into audible 
song. For angelic instruments, the harp is the commonest with 
the poet, the lute or pipe with the painter. Coleridge speaks of 


491 - 


402 


HEAVENLY MUSICIANS. 


“The prayer 

Harped by archangels when they sing of mercy 

and Thomson of the 

“Visionary hour 

When musing midnight reigns or silent noon, 

Angelic harps are in full concert heard/’ 

“And guardian angels sung the strain.” 

Nor has the silence needful to the hearing of such pure and 
heavenly strains escaped an earlier poet; as in Henry Vaughn’s 
lines: 


“Calm and unhaunted as is Thy dark tent, 

Whose peace but by some angel’s wing or voice, 
Is seldom sent.” 


But Milton, following no doubt those visions of the Italian 
painters that his youth has made familiar, celebrates 

“The solemn pipe 

And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop, 

All sounds as fret by string or golden wire.** 


with which as well as 


“With songs 

And choral symphonies, day without night, 
Circle His throne, rejoicing, ye 
In heaven.” 


There is much that appeals to our imagination in the thought 
of these heavenly musicians. We fancy their perfect instruments 
attuned to perfect voices, creating such harmonies as no earthly 
orchestra can reproduce. — W. Fleming Stevenson. 

How often from the steep 
Or echoing hill or thicket have we heard 
Celestial voices to the midnight air, 

Sole, or responsive, each to other’s note 
Singing their great Creator! 


—Milton. 


MANY AN ANGEL TENT. 


December 14. 


And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels, seven golden vials full of the 
wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever.—Revelation 15:7. 


I F WE praise God that He has created for us the dear sun, the 
1 moon, wine and bread, we should surely praise Him that He 
has created the dear angels. My God, I thank Thee that Thou hast 
set Tliy good angels to care for us, and guardest us with such 
heavenly princes round about us! —Luther. 

# 

All nations believe that there are individual intelligences be¬ 
yond the skies—that these are subject to no change and no pas¬ 
sion; that they are in the enjoyment of the fullest and most 
perfect life, which consists not so much in action as in contem¬ 
plation ; that they have a King, that they differ from men and are 
inconceivably more excellent. —Aristotle. 


The ancient Greeks and Romans held a profound faith in the 
existence of angels or demons, and cherished a lively sense of 
their communion with mankind. Plato, in the ensuing terse words, 
explains their views: “Every demon is a middle being between 
God and man. All the commerce and intercourse between gods 
and men is performed by the mediation of demons. Demons are 
reporters and carriers from men to the gods, and again from the 
gods to men; of the supplications and prayers of the one, and of the 
injunctions and rewards of devotion from the other.’’ He further¬ 
more asserts that every person has two demons, or genii, to attend 
him through life—one of whom is a prompter of good thoughts 
and actions; the other of evil. Plutarch asserts that the holy 
angels are the overseers and auditors of divine worship, of all 
acts of which they are watchfully observant; and alludes to a very 
ancient belief in the existence of certain wicked, malignant demons 
who, prompted by envy, endeavor to hinder good men in the pur¬ 
suit of virtue, lest finally they should become partakers of greater 
happiness than they can hope to enjoy. Hesiod, also, one of the 
earliest of the Hellenic authors, and in whose writings is said to 
appear the first distinct religious recognition of demons, main- 

- 493 - 


494 HEAVEN ’S' ANTHEM RAISE. 

tains that good angels are frequent visitors to earth on errands ot 
love. Thus he describes their authority and ministrations: 

u Aerial spirits, by great Jove design ’d 
To be on earth the guardians of mankind; 

Invisible to mortal eyes, they go, 

And mark our actions, good or bad, below; 

The mortal skies with watchful care preside, 

And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide; 

They ease reward with glory or with gold; 

# Such power divine permission bids them hold.” 

—Edward I. Sears, A. M, 

Thine angels, Lord, we bless with thankful lays, 

Dwelling with Thee above yon depths of sky; 

Who ’mid Thy glory’s blaze 
Heaven’s ceaseless anthems raise 
And gird Thy throne in faithful ministry. 

We celebrate their lore, whose viewless wing 
Hath left for us so oft their mansion high. 

The mercies of their King 
To mortal saints to bring, 

Or guard the couch of slumbering Infancy. 

—Bishop Heber. 






WHITE AND SERRIED RANKS. 


December 15. 


And the temple was filled with smoke, from the glory of God, and from his power; 
and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels 
were fulfilled.—Revelation 15:6. 

B EAUTIFUL indeed are the Bible’s eulogies of the glorious 
achievements of the pure and holy angels of heaven. And 
the fancies of poet and painter have alike reveled in this real or 
imaginary glory of the angelic world. The great Paul was simply 
intoxicated with delight when he was caught up into Paradise and 
beheld for the first time the white and serried ranks of Angel 
Land. The early fathers of Christianity lingered long and pon¬ 
dered much over the sacred pages to learn what God’s angels said 
and sung when they came on missions of mercy to men. The 
artists also—“those bending worshipers of beauty”—in the 
dawning days of the Renaissance, were inspired, as were the 
prophets of old, to reproduce their ecstatic visions and dreams, 
their lofty conceptions of angels and archangels, cherubim and 
seraphim and all the glorious host of heaven. And say! how poor 
the art galleries of the world would appear were they bereft of 
the marvelous master paintings of angels which have been 
handed down to us by Murillo, Guido, Kaulbach, Titian, Van 
Dyck, Fra Angelico and the divine Raphael. 

—Alfred Fowler. 


Ah, painful sweet! how can I take it in! 

That somewhere in the illimitable blue 

Of God’s pure space, which men call heaven, we two 

Again shall find each other, and begin 

The infinite life of love, a life akin 

To angels’—only angels never knew 

The ecstasy of blessedness that drew 

Us each to each, even in this world of sin. 

—Margaret J. Preston. 


- 495 - 


TELLING OF THEIR FATHER’S SHELTER. 

December 16. 

And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels:—Revelation 16:1. 

4 4 BEAT, therefore, is the dignity of the human soul, since 
vJ each has an angel assigned to it as its attendant. ’’ 

—Jerome. 

Each soul is in the custody of an angel. — Anslem. 

Angel characteristics: They excel in loving; they are spotless 
in their purity; they are absolutely perfect in their obedience, 
and they are ideal in their ministry. —Alfred Fowler. 

As the obedience of the angels of God is universal, peacefully 
and cheerfully shown, and their ministry speedily fulfilled, so it 
extends to all that is appointed them to do. —Backall. 


For lullabies the angels sing her 
Songs of comfort, peace and love, 

Telling of their Father’s shelter 
In the realms of bliss above. 

0 happy little wanderer! 

Thou’rt gathered in the fold; 

A lamb before thy Father’s throne, 

In palaces of gold! 

In pity loving angels took 
Thy soul with tender eare, 

A flower once drooping by the way, 

To bud and blossom there. 

And hymns of praise with angels singing, 

Songs of comfort, peace and love; 

Safely by thy Father sheltered, 

In the realms of bliss above. 

—Felix Gerard. 


i 


-450- 


Kaulbach 


TO GOD 


(See page 486) 



















V.'v 





Mliller 

ASCENSION OF MARY 


(See page 505) 













IDEAL IN THEIR MINISTRY. 


December 17. 

And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of 
a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.—Revelation 16:3. 

M ANY who claim that they believe the Bible receive with a 
smile of incredulity any allusion in public or private dis¬ 
course to these supernatural beings. “The Sadducees say that 
there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spiritand so say to¬ 
day multitudes who would he shocked if told that they do not 
receive the teachings of the inspired Book. For the existence of a 
personal devil and of angels and demons, who are constantly con¬ 
cerned in human affairs, we have precisely the same evidence that 
convinces us of the birth, the life, the death and the resurrection 
of Christ. The Word of God is not more explicit in its testimony 
upon the one truth than upon the other; nor in the nature of the 
case is it one that is to he determined by the intellect, or, rather, hv 
the ignorance, of man. The existence of angels and demons, or 
their immediate hut invisible relation to man, is not a whit more 
impossible or inconceivable, even according to reason, than the 
incarnation of the eternal God in the form of a little babe and 
the triumphant ascension of His mangled body from the tomb. 
He who denies either is blinded by the ‘ ‘ God of this world. ’ ’ 

—Rev. James H. Brooks, D. D. 

Sweet is all the bitter, 

Blessed is the night, 

When the angels glitter 
In the morning light. 

In the common duty 
Bidding us away, 

For Jesus in His beauty 
Will meet us by the way. 

—Walter Chalmers Smith. 


— 497 — 


EXCEL IN LOVING. 


December 18. 


And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and 
I heard the angel of the waters say: Thou art righteous, 0 Lord.—Revelation 16:4, 5. 



HE angels that God hath ordained in their several ranks, 


1 they are not for any defect in God to supply His want of 
power, but further to enlarge and demonstrate His goodness. He 
is the “Lord of Hoststherefore, He will have hosts of crea¬ 
tures, one under another, and all serviceable to His end. He 
could have been content with His own happiness, and never have 
made a world; but He made the world to show His goodness and 
love and respect for mankind. So He will have angels attend us, 
though He watch over us by His own providence. This takes 
away not any care of His, but He shows His care in the attend¬ 
ance of angels and other creatures. He useth them to convey His 
care and love to us. —R. Sibbes, D. D. 


Look down upon us from your spheres of light, 
Bright ministers of the Invisible: 

Before whose dread supremacy weak man 
May not appear; for what are we—earth-worms— 
That the All-Holy One to us should stoop 
From the pure sanctuary where He dwells, 

Throned in eternal light? 


—Atherstone. 


They stand, those halls of Zion, 
Con jubilant with song, 

And bright with many an angel, 
And all the martyr throng. 

Oh, holy, placid harp-tones 
Of that eternal hymn! 

Oh, sacred, sweet reflection 
And peace of seraphim. 

Thou city of the angels! 

Thou city of the Lord! 

Whose everlasting music 
Is the glorious decachord. 


- 498' - 


Bernard de Morlaix. 


WITH THEIR LIGHTNING SWORDS. 

December 19. 


And I heard another angel out of the altar say: Even so, God Almighty, true and 
righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun. 

—Revelation 16:8. 

I F WE endeavor to determine the relation between the nature of 
angels and human nature with a somewhat greater degree of 
precision, it will be evident that in one respect the angels are 
higher than men, whereas in another they occupy an inferior posi¬ 
tion : higher because they are powers and energies, the strong, the 
mighty ones, who execute the commandments of the Lord; ele¬ 
vated above all earthly limitations; inferior because they bear 
the same relation to man as the universal and the microcosmical, 
for which reason they are also represented as spirits waiting and 
tending upon human life, as a firmament of stars ministering to 
the life of earth in its historical convulsions. Although the angel 
in relation to man is the more powerful spirit, man’s spirit is 
nevertheless the richer and the more comprehensive. For the 
angel in all his power is only the expression of a single one of all 
those phases which man in the inward nature of his soul and the 
richness of his own individuality is intended to combine into a 
complete and perfect microcosm. —Bishop Martensen. 

I faced the messenger 
Of Death, who waited, eager for his prey, 

And those white angels, with their lightning swords, 

And eyes more terrible to sinful men 

Than sword or spear, I braved them at their watch. 

-B. M. 


499 - 


SOOTHER TO EVERY JOY. 


December 20. 


And the fifth angel—and the sixth angel—and the seventh angel poured out his vial 
into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, 
saying: It is done.—Eevelation 16:17. 


ND what shall we say of the descending angels, who come 



** from God to us? Come they empty-handed or without a 
blessing? Nay; by God’s appointment ‘‘they succor and defend 
us upon earth.” We believe that they are often invisibly em¬ 
ployed to shield the true Christian from bodily harm, or to make 
some disposition in Nature or in Providence by which he may be 
assisted or extricated from difficulties. We believe that the angels 
camp about every child of God and have charge of him to keep 
him in all his ways. —Dean Gouldburn. 

I believe no soul is left to wing its viewdess flight to Paradise 
in solitude. I believe the “Gloria in Excelsis” of the shining 
host of God welcomes the disembodied spirit upon the confines of 
the new world. I remember hearing once of a little dying child 
shrinking timidly from the idea of going alone; but just before 
the end there was a spirit of sublime confidence, a supernatural 
opening of vision, a recognition of some companionship, and the 
little one cried out: “ I am not afraid; they are all here. ’ ’ They 
were the angels; I believe the rustle of their wings is around you 
as you kneel to offer the commendatory prayer. 


—Archdeacon Basil Wilberforce. 


Till it seemed that an angel had brightened the sod 
And brought to each bosom a message from God. 


—Mrs. Welby. 


Dear angel! ever at my side, 

How loving must thou be 
To leave thy home in heaven to guard 
A little child like me. 

Then love me, love me, angel dear! 

And I will love thee more; 

And help me when my soul is cast 
Upon the eternal shore. 


—Frederick Wm, Faber. 


- 500 - 


« 


CYNOSURE OF ALL EYES. 

December 21. 

And there came one of the seven angels and talked with me, saying unto me: Come 
hither.—Revelation 17:1. 

H AS it ever occurred to you what joy and satisfaction it will 
give to redeemed souls to see and converse with those 
angels who bore so conspicuous a part in ministering to their 
Lord and Master? How delightful, when we arrive in that 
heavenly country, to have our angel guide inform us, as he points 
to one after another of the angel throng who ministered to Christ 
when on earth. How will we seek to know, to talk with them and 
hear of the delight and joy with which they thus attended Him in 
all these eventful periods! While the Lord Jesus Christ himself 
will he the cynosure of all eyes and the joy of all hearts, we 
cannot doubt that communion with redeemed and angelic spirits 
will form no small part of the bliss and happiness of the heavenly 
world. The thought of this, even now, is rapturous and inspiring. 
“But what will it be to he there!” —Dunn. 

Angel voices ever singing 
Round Thy throne of light, 

Angel harps forever ringing 
Rest not, day nor night; 

Thousands only live to bless Thee, 

And confess Thee 
Lord of Might. 

—Francis Pott. 


One of the seven 

Who in God’s presence, nearest to His throne, 

Stand ready to command, and are His eyes 

That run through all the heavens, and down to earth 

Bear His swift commands, ever moist and dry, 

O’er sea and land. 

—Milton. 


- 501 - 


MY LITTLE PLAYMATES BRIGHT. 


December 22. 

And the angel said unto me: Wherefore didst thou marvel?—Revelation 17:7. 

W E SHALL not pass through the valley of the shadow of 
death alone. Heavenly messengers will be near to carry 
us to the realms of light. While we cannot see the bright world to 
which our loved ones have gone, yet we know that the angels have 
carried them safely to their bright and everlasting abodes. The 
vision of angels around the dying bed is often enjoyed by God’s 
dear saints. A little playmate of Dr. Berg’s at death’s door 
raised his little hand and whispered: 4 ‘Oh, listen! That sweet * 
praise! Let me go—dress me—let me go with them.” Another 
little fellow in the valley cried out: “See the angels up there! 
Don’t you see them? Don’t you see the angels?” The dying 
child then said: “Mother, don’t weep for me; they have come 
for me, and I am going with the angels. ’ ’ Then the happy-making 
sight with God. —Foster. 

I dreamt I was a child last night, 

Beside the happy Western sea, 

And all my little playmates bright 
Came back once more to play with me. 

We sat and whispered hand in hand, 

I hear the very words today: 

Oh, where, Oh, where, is angel-land, 

And shall we ever find the way ? 

My dream was changed: fast fell the night; 

I knelt alone beside the sea, 

For upward through the starry light 
My playmates flew away from me. 

They rose, they rose, a shining band, 

I called them, but they might not stay; 

Away! away! to angel-land, 

My little playmates flew away! 

0 happy days! 0 playmates sweet! 

0 hearts of childhood long ago! 

I wonder where we all may meet, 

And what the joy we then shall know. 

Oh, hear me, hear me, angel band, 

Oh, lift me from the gloomy shore, 

Oh, take me home to Angel Land, 

To be a child with you once more. 

—F. E. Weatherly. 

- 502 - 


HAPPY MAKING SIGHT WITH GOD. 

December 23. 

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great 
power; and the earth was lighted with his glory.—Revelation 18:1. 

W E CALL good angels angels of light, their habitation being 
in heaven, in the region of light; they are clothed with 
light and glory; they stand before the throne of the Most High, 
and they inspire men with good actions, actions of light and 
righteousness. Angels of darkness, on the contrary, are the 
devil’s ministers, whose abode is in hell, the region of darkness. 
Paul says that “ Satan sometimes transforms himself into an 
angel of light; ’’ in like manner as our Savior says that ‘ ‘ wolves 
sometimes put on sheep’s clothing to seduce the simple.” They 
are ever discovered by their works; sooner or later they betray 
themselves by deeds of darkness, wherein they engage with their 
followers. Evil angels are unclean, promoters of darkness—of 
spiritual wickedness; they oppose good angels and good men; 
they are under punishment now; they dread severer sufferings 
hereafter. —Edmund Robinson, D, D. 

A little distance from the prow 
Those crimson shadows were. 

I turned my eyes upon the deck— 

0 Christ! what saw I there! 

Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat, 

And by the holy rood! 

A man all light, a seraph man, 

On every corse there stood. 

This seraph-band, each waved his hand; 

It was a heavenly sight! 

They stood as signals to the land, 

Each one a lovely light; 

This seraph-band, each waved his hand, 

No voice did they impart— 

No voice; but ah! the silence sank 
Like music on my heart. 

— Coleridge. 


- 503 - 


ANGELS ALL ADOBE HIM. 


December 24. 

% 

And a mighty angel took up a stone and cast it into the sea.—Revelation 18:21. 

I N THE matter of knowledge, there is between the angels of 
God and the children of men this difference: Angels already 
have full and complete knowledge in the highest degree that can 
be imparted unto them; men, if we view them in their spring, are 
at the first without understanding or knowledge at all. Never¬ 
theless, from this utter vacuity they grow by degrees, till they 
come at length to be even as the angels themselves are. 

Beholding the face of God, in admiration of so great excel¬ 
lency, the angels all adore Him; and, being rapt with the love of 
His beauty, they cleave forever inseparably to Him. Desire to 
resemble Him in goodness maketli them unweariable, and even 
insatiable, in their longing to do, by all means, all manner of good 
unto all the creatures of God, but especially unto the children of 
men, in the countenance of whose nature, looking downward, they 
behold themselves, beneath themselves; even upward in God, be¬ 
neath Whom themselves are, they see that character which is no¬ 
where but in themselves, and as resembled. —Hooker. 

For this, 0 Angel, well we know, 

The way you come our souls shall go, 

Up to the love from which you come, 

Back to our Father’s blessed abode. 

—Anonymous. 


Ah me,—not dies—no more that spirit dies; 

But in a change like death is clothed with wings; 

A serious angel, with entranced eyes, 

Looking to far-off and celestial things. 

—Timrod. 


- 504 - 


FEAST OF LOVE. 


December 25. 

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice: Come unto 
the supper of the Great God.—Revelation 19:17. 

T HE angelic hosts now sweep their golden harps in tones of 
sweetest harmony and lead the righteous from a scene of 
terror to the paradise of God. —Anonymous. 

In the period A. D. 730-1517 the church adhered to the classi¬ 
fication of the angels given by the pseudo-Dionysius. The Latern 
Council (A. D. 1215), under Pope Innocent III., pronounced as 
the doctrine of the church that the angels are spiritual beings, 
and that they are created good. But with regard to particular 
points, such as the nature and office of the angels, their relation 
to God, to the world, to man and to the work of redemption, ample 
scope was left for poetical and fanciful speculations, frequently 
running out into wilful conceits. Most of the scholastics adopted 
the opinion of Augustine, that the angels were created with all the 
other creatures, and only so far before them as they surpass 
them in dignity. A fact adverted to about the angels, not unim¬ 
portant in a religious point of view, is that the angels are repre¬ 
sented only as distinct and isolated creations of God, not forming 
one whole like the human race. Hence, it is said, the fall of 
individuals did not involve the fall of the whole angelic world. 

—Hagenback. 

What are these that glow from afar, 

These that lean over the golden bar, 

Strong as the lion, pure as the dove, 

With open arms and hearts of love? 
****** 

Welcoming angels these that shine, 

Your own angels and yours and mine. 

—Christina Eossetti. 


— 505 — 


TRANSCENDING OUR WONTED THEMES. 


December 26. 

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and 
a great chain in his hand.—Revelation 20:1. 

r "P HE principal creatures are angels and men. Of angels, some 
1 continued in that holy state wherein they were created, and 
are by God’s grace forever established therein; others fell from 
the same, and are reserved in chains of darkness unto the judg¬ 
ment of the great day. —The Irish Articles. 

We believe that the angels were all in the beginning created 
pure and holy, but that some of them have fallen into irreparable 
corruption, and that the rest have been preserved in their first 
purity by an effect of divine goodness, which was upheld and 
confirmed by them. —Confession of the Waldenses. 

Angels were created good, but they swerved from the duty of 
perfect obedience to God, and so fell away from Him into self-will, 
pride and malice. According to the words of the Apostle Jude, 
they are angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own 
habitation. —Catholic Eastern Church. 

May not the thoughts, coming of a sudden, have been due to 
the permitted whisper of an angel of God ? 

—Rev. H. Latham. 

The God who knew my wrongs, and made 
Our speedy act the angel of His wrath, 

Seems, and but seems, to have abandoned us. 

—Anonymous. 

Jesus the name high over all 
In hell or earth or sky; 

Angels and men before Him fall 
And devils fear and fly. 

—Isaac Watts. 


- 506 - 


THE HOLY JERUSALEM. 


iDecember 27. 


And there came unto me one of the seven angels, and talked with me, saying: Come 
hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And. he showed me that great 
city, the holy Jerusalem, having the glory of God.—Revelation 21:9. 



HE more one lives for immortality the more immortal things 


A he assimilates into his spiritual substance, the more con¬ 
firming tokens of a deathless inheritance his faith finds. He be¬ 
comes conscious of his own eternity. When hallowed imagination 
weighs anchor and spreads sail to coast the dim shores of the, 
other world it hears cheerful voices of welcome from the head¬ 
lands, and discerns beacons burning in the port. When in ear¬ 
nest communion with ourselves, solemn meditations of God, mys¬ 
terious influences shed from unseen spheres fall on our souls, and 
many a “strange thought, transcending our wonted themes, into 
glory peeps.’’ A vague constraining sense of invisible beings, 
by whom we are engirt, fills us. We blindly feel that our rank 
and destination are with them. Left hut one thin veil, we think, 
and the occult Universe of Spirit would break to vision with 
cloudy crowds of angels. —William R. Alger. 


Mortals, behold! the very angels quit 
Their mansions unsusceptible of change, 


Amid your dangerous bowers to sit 
And through your sharp vicissitudes to range. 


—Anonymous. 


And dear to angels, is his prayer 
For sweet fragrance’ sake 
Of loving deeds. 


Keble. 


— 507 — 


ANGELS TO BECKON ME. 


December 28 


And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; 
and he measured the wall thereof according to the measure of the man—that is, of the 
angel.—Revelation 21:12, 17. 


HE blessedness of angels does not consist in the endowments 



1 of their nature—that they are great in power, light, knowl¬ 
edge and wisdom; for notwithstanding these things, many of them 
became devils. But the excellency and blessedness of the angelic 
state consists in these two things: (1) That they are disposed and 
able constantly, inseparably, universally, uninterruptedly, to 
cleave unto God in love. And as they do so unto God, so do they 
unto the person of Christ; (2) add hereunto that gracious reflex 
sense which they have of the glory, dignity, eternal sweetness 
and satisfaction which arise therefrom, and we have the sum of 
angelic blessedness. — T. Owen, D. D. 


When angel hands have gathered 
The first ripe fruit for Thee, 


0 Father, Son, and Spirit, 
Most holy Trinity. 


—Ada C. Cross. 


Daily, daily sing the praises 
Of the eity God hath made; 

In the angel fields of Eden 
Its foundation stones are laid. 

From the throne a river issues, 
Clear as crystal, passing bright, 

And it traverses the city 
Like a seraph beam of light. 

There the wind is sweetly fragrant. 
And is laden with the song 

Of the seraphs and the angels 
And the great redeemed throng. 

Oh, I would my ears were open 
Here to catch that happy strain! 

Oh, I would my eyes some vision 
Of that Eden could attain! 


- 50S - 


— S. Baring-Gould. 


DIVINE CREATURES. 


December 29. 

And th® Lord God of the prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things 
which must shortly he done. Behold I come quietly.—Revelation 22:6. 

B UT now that we may lift up our eyes (as it were) from the 
footstool and the throne of God, and leaving these natural, 
consider a little the state of heavenly and divine creatures; touch¬ 
ing angels, which are spirits immaterial and intellectual, the 
glorious inhabitants of those sacred palaces, where nothing but 
light and blessed immortality, no shadow of matter for tears, dis¬ 
contentments, griefs, but all joy, tranquility, and peace, even for¬ 
ever and ever doth dwell; as in number and order they are huge, 
mighty, and royal armies, so likewise in perfection of obedience 
unto that law, which the Highest, whom they adore, love, imitate, 
hath imposed upon them, such observance is there of our Savior 
Himself being set down as the perfect idea of that which we are to 
pray or wish for more than only that here it might be with us, as 
with them it is in heaven. God, which moveth more natural agents 
as an efficient only, doth otherwise move intellectual creatures, 
and especially His holy angels. —Hooker. 

Angels ever bright and fair, 

Take, oh! take me to your care; 

Speed to your own courts my flight 
Clad in robes of virgin white. 

Angels ever bright and fair, 

Take, oh! take me to your care. —Pope. 

(Music by Handel.) 

Go with me like good angels to my end.; 

Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice, 

And lift my soul to heaven! 

—Shakespeare. 

His inexpressive eye 

Peered round him vacantly, 

As if in what’er he did he would be chidden; 

He seemed a mere growth of earth; 

Yet even he had mirth, 

As the great angels have, untold and hidden. 

Thus did he live his life, 

A kind of passive strife, 

Upon the God within his heart relying; 

Men left him all alone, 

Because he was unknown, 

But he heard the angels sing when he was dying. 

—F. W. Faber. 


— 509 — 


ANGEL WORSHIP FORBIDDEN. 

E>ecembet 30. 

And I John saw these things and heard them. And I fell down to worship before the 
feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then he saith unto me: See thou do it 
not. Worship God.—Revelation 22:8. 

T HE employment of angels not only took place, but was made 
known to men. There have been, we should remember, for 
aught we know, other cases in which the ministration of angels 
was employed, but has been concealed from us. If any one should 
inquire—and such an inquiry does not seem presumptuous or 
unreasonable—why, in certain instances, the ministry of Angels 
to Man was made known to us, thus much at least we may clearly 
perceive; that it was not in order that men should invoke them 
when unseen, and pray to them for aid. For we find none of the 
apostles or other disciples ever doing this. And it is important 
to remark that in all the instances in which Angels are recorded 
as holding intercourse with Man, it appears to have been always 
under a special commission from God Himself, and not as acting 
of themselves. And this looks as if no intercourse was allowed 
unless specially authorized. —Archbishop Whately, D. D. 

We praise Thee, 0 God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. 

All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting. 

To Thee all angels cry aloud; the heavens and all the powers therein. 

— Te Deum Laudamus. 

Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee, 

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; 

. Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, 

Who wert, and art, and ever more shalt be. 

—Bishop Heber. 


Faith’s ladder pales not, angels yet are found 
All beauteous in calm and holy light; 

Their silver robes have skirted many a cloud 
Thronging the purple night. 

—E. Brine, 


- 510 - 


TILL MORNING’S JOY. 


December 31. 

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. 

—Revelation 22:16. 

T HERE came out also at this time to meet them several of the 
King’s trumpeters, clothed in white and shining raiment, 
who, with melodious voices and loud, made even the heavens to 
echo with their sound. These trumpeters saluted Christian and 
his fellow with ten thousand welcomes from the world, and this 
they did with shouting and sound of trumpet. This done, they 
compassed them round on every side; some went before, some 
behind, and some on the right hand, and some on the left, con¬ 
tinually sounding as they went, with melodious noise, in notes on 
high; so that the very sight was to them that could behold it as if 
heaven itself was come down to meet them. Thus, therefore, they 
walked on together; and, as they walked, ever and anon these, 
even with joyful sound, would by mixing their music with looks 
and gestures, still signify to Christian and his brother how wel¬ 
come they were into their company, and with what gladness they 
came to meet them. And now were these two men, as it were, in 
heaven, before they came at it, being swallowed up with the sight 
of angels, and with hearing their melodious notes. Here, also, 
they had the city itself in view; and they thought they heard all 
the bells therein to ring, to welcome them thereto. But above all, 
the warm and joyful thoughts that they had about their own 
dwelling there with such company, and that for ever and ever. 

—Bunyan. 


Angels thy old friends there shall greet thee, 

Glad at their own home now to meet thee. 

—Richard Crawshaw to S. Teresa. 

Then place them in Thine everlasting gardens, 

Where angels walk, and seraphs are the wardens. 

—John Bowring. 

And in the morn those angel faces smile 
That I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 

—Cardinal Newman. 


- 511 - 


512 


AT HOME IN ANGEL-LAND. 


Angels, sing on! your faithful watches keeping; 

Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above, 

Till morning’s joy shall end the night of weeping, 

And life’s long shadows break in cloudless love. 

—Frederick W. Faber. 


A company of angels, clothed in light, 

Thronging the path, or in the amber air 
Suspense; and in the twinkling of an eye 
We were among them, and they clustered round, 

And waved their wings, and struck their harps again, 

For gladness; every look was tenderness, 

And every word was musical with joy. 

Welcome to heaven, dear brother, welcome home! 

Welcome to thine inheritance of light! 

Welcome forever to thy Master’s joy! 

Thy work is done, thy pilgrimage is past, 

Thy guardian angel’s vigil is fulfilled. 

—Bickersteth. 


513 


Angel-Land. 

MEZZO SOPRANO OR BAR. 

Words by F.E. Weatherly. Ciro Pinsuti. 


Andante moderato. 


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Music is the melody of the heart and the poetry of the soul. Music is 
a fine art; it therefore deals with abstract beauty and so lifts man to the 
source of all beauty, from the finite to the infinite and from the world of 
matter to the world of spirit and to God. 


When the dusk steals over the city,, 

And the children fall asleep; 

When the mothers watch in the silence 
And guard o’er their slumbers keep, 

There-is One who heeds them and listens 
To whom every word is dear; 

For the faltering prayers of the children 
Are the first that the angels hear. 

—Anonymous. 




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540 


< 


ANGELS EVER BRICHT AND FAIR. 

From^Theodora’’ G. F. Handel. 



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